2 Kings 5:10

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him,.... Or returned an answer by Naaman's messenger; he did not go out to him, choosing to be retired, as he commonly did; and being perhaps employed in prayer for

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. No JFB commentary on these verses.

Elisha sent a messenger; partly, to try and exercise Naaman’ s faith and obedience; partly, for the honour of his religion and ministry, that it might appear he sought not his own glory and profit in his miraculous performances, but only God’ s honour, and the good of men; and partly, for the discovery of the almighty power of God, that could by such slight means cure so desperate a disease. Thy flesh shall come again; which was in great part consumed by the leprosy. See .

2 Kings 5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.Ver. 10. Go and wash in Jordan seven times.] This was the prophet’ s oracle, which he construeth for a contempt, and thereupon blustereth. The simplicity of Christ is still much mistaken by the mad world, ever besides itself in point of salvation.

(10) Elisha sent a messenger.—Avoiding personal contact with a leper. (Comp. 2 Kings 5:15, where Naaman, when restored, goes in and stands before the prophet.) Perhaps reverence held back those who consulted a great prophet from entering his presence (comp. 2 Kings 4:12); and therefore, Naaman stopped with his followers outside the house. Keil suggests that Elisha did not come out to Naaman, because he wished to humble his pride, and to show that his worldly magnificence did not impress the prophet. But, as Thenius says, there is no trace of pride about Naaman. Go.—Infinitive, equivalent to the imperative. (Comp. 2 Kings 3:16; and perhaps 2 Kings 4:43.) Wash in (the) Jordan.—This command would make it clear that Naaman was not cured by any external means applied by the prophet. “The Syrians knew as well as the Israelites that the Jordan could not heal leprosy” (Bähr). Naaman was to understand that he was healed by the God of Israel, at His prophet’s prayer. (Comp. 2 Kings 5:15.) Thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.—Literally, and let thy flesh come back to thee, and be thou clean. Leprosy is characterised by raw flesh and running sores, which end in entire wasting away of the tissues.

Verse 10. Sent a messenger] Did not come out to speak with him: he had got his orders from God, and he transmitted them to Naaman by his servant. Wash in Jordan seven times] The waters of Jordan had no tendency to remove this disorder but God chose to make them the means by which he would convey his healing power. He who is the author of life, health, and salvation, has a right to dispense, convey, and maintain them, by whatsoever means he pleases.

10. Elisha sent a messenger unto him] The princely cavalcade waited at Elisha’s door, but the prophet did not come forth. We need not think of him as avoiding a leprous person, either from fear of infection, or from legal scruples. It was rather that he wished to prevent any thought of himself as the worker of the cure coming into Naaman’s mind. The Syrian captain’s idea was, as we can see from the sequel, that Jehovah was specially the God of the land of Israel. If he were sent to one of the streams of that land, he would be most likely, to connect, as he actually did, his recovery with the might of the God of Israel. The prophet would therefore only be the mouthpiece of Jehovah, and for this reason sent his direction by a messenger. Go and wash in Jordan] Naaman would be quite sure that the waters of the Jordan were not a cure for leprosy, otherwise there would have been no lepers in Israel. The journey from Samaria to the river would be a great test of his faith, and would set the matter before him in a very different aspect from that in which he had before viewed it. He had come as a mighty person to present his request to a king. He is first of all brought to the humble door of the prophet, and from thence sent on a further journey to what he would naturally look on as an insignificant stream. It was not to the king, nor the prophet, nor the river, that his healing could be ascribed if it were effected. We can understand how difficult this new lesson was for Naaman to learn. seven times] Since the seven days of God’s first week, the number ‘seven’ has been held somewhat more sacred than other numbers. Hence its frequent mention in religious services and ceremonial. Cf. also its occurrence in the narrative of the deluge; in the appointment of the passover; in the observances connected with the cleansing of lepers, which may account for the use of the number in the present narrative. It was the number of the priests who blew with trumpets before the ark as the people entered the holy land, and for seven days they were to compass Jericho, and on the seventh day to do so seven times. These are but a few out of the instances in which the number is similarly used. and thy flesh shall come again to thee] The expression is well suited to the case, for in leprosy the body or the part affected is covered with an incrustation, so that the flesh seems all to have disappeared. and thou shalt be clean] The Hebrew has the imperative ‘and be thou clean’, as is noted on the margin of R.V. Elisha is speaking as Jehovah’s minister, thus the imperative is not unfitting, and calls to mind the words of Christ to another leper (Matthew 8:3) ‘I will, be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed’.

Elisha was not deterred from personally meeting Naaman because he was a leper. He sent a messenger because Naaman had over-estimated his own importance 2 Kings 5:11), and needed rebuke.

10. Sent a messenger — He would not respect Naaman’s pride enough to do him the honour of going out to him in person. It was his purpose to humble the proud spirit of the Syrian soldier.