Chapter Five

1–14. The healing of Naaman, the Syrian military commander, by the word of the prophet Elisha. 15–19. Naaman’s gratitude and conversion to the true God; the disinterestedness of the prophet. 20–27. The greed of Gehazi and his punishment.

2 Kings 5:1. Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2 Kings 5:2. The Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 2 Kings 5:3. She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy. 2 Kings 5:4. So Naaman went and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. To what time the miraculous healing of Naaman is to be assigned, whether to the time of Joram or already to the reign of the dynasty of Jehu, is not evident from the text; it is only clear that it falls in a time of peaceful relations between the Syrian and Israelite kingdoms. The rabbis identified Naaman with the Syrian warrior who once mortally wounded Ahab (1 Kgs 22:34) and who is called by Josephus (Antiq. 8:15, 5) Amanos (παῖς δε τις βασιλικὸς τοῦ ᾿Αδωνος ᾿Αμανος ᾿όνομα). In contrast to the strict exclusion of the leprous among the Hebrews (Lev 13:45-46. See Tolkovaya Bibliya, vol. 1), Naaman, having distinguished himself by a victory he gave to his country, seemingly continued to serve even after the disease befell him. But fate, or more precisely, God’s providence, made the man who once gave the Syrians a victory over the Israelites now turn to the land of the Israelites for healing, to the prophet of God. The latter Naaman learns from a Hebrew captive girl, seized by Syrian marauders during one of their raids on border Israelite lands. On the advice of the captive girl, Naaman turns to the Syrian king requesting permission to go to Samaria (according to (2 Kgs 5:8 and others), the prophet at that time indeed lived not in Gilgal and not on Carmel, but in Samaria).

2 Kings 5:5. The king of Aram said, “Go then; and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 2 Kings 5:6. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy. 2 Kings 5:7. When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just see – he is trying to pick a quarrel with me. From the fact that the Syrian king sends Naaman to the Israelite king without hesitation with a forceful demand in the letter (the content of the letter is briefly conveyed, v. 6), one can conclude that the Syrian kings after Ahab’s defeat continued to regard the Israelites as their vassals; in the very demand of the king to cure leprosy from Naaman is seen the view of a miracle as a matter of magic. According to Eastern custom, whose etiquette requires the presentation of rich gifts to important persons, Naaman takes with him (v. 5) much silver and gold and, besides, also according to Eastern custom (Gen 41:14; 1 Sam 28:8; 2 Sam 12:20), ten sets of garments. Despite this, the Israelite king, understanding the letter of the Syrian king as an address to himself and, evidently, not thinking at all of the great prophet Elisha, falls into despair (v. 7): from sorrow he tears his clothes (cf. 2 Kgs 2:12), acknowledges that only God has the power to kill and make alive (cf. Deut 32:39) – leprosy was considered a calamity almost equal to death (Num 12:12) – and suspects in the demand of the Syrian king a seeking of a pretext for war.

2 Kings 5:8. But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel. 2 Kings 5:9. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 2 Kings 5:10. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean. Now the prophet himself reminds the king of himself, of Him who gives death and life, and is ready to show mercy to them through His prophet, despite the apostasies of the people and king. However, when Naaman arrived at the house of the prophet Elisha, “he, observing the law, as one living under the law would not consent to see Naaman, as a leper (according to the law Lev 13-14), but ordered him to wash seven times in the river Jordan” (the blessed Theodoret, question 19), promising him “renewal of body” and “cleanness” (v. 10, cf. Luke 17:11), as was usually said of healing from leprosy.

2 Kings 5:11. But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy. 2 Kings 5:12. “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 2 Kings 5:13. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’? 2 Kings 5:14. So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. Angry at what he perceived as the prophet’s disrespect, Naaman expresses the common view among ancient and modern Eastern peoples that healing from disease requires, besides calling upon God, also the laying on of hands of the healer on the sick place (v. 11). The Syrian rivers Abana (according to another reading in the Keri – Amana) and Pharpar (Heb. Parpar), according to general opinion, flowed from the Anti-Lebanon and watered Damascus. The first is identified with the present Nahr-Barada, the ancient Chrysorrhoas (Onomasticon, 7); the second – with Nahr-el-Awaj to the south of Damascus (Onomasticon, 923). See Badecker. Palastina u. Syrien. A. 7; s. 334. Naaman’s obedience to the prophet (v. 14) was rewarded by the exact fulfillment of the prophet’s word (v. 10), healing and, as it were, complete renewal of Naaman.

2 Kings 5:15. Then Naaman returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant. 2 Kings 5:16. But he said, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing.” He urged him, but he refused. By the miraculous healing of Naaman was achieved also his spiritual healing – conversion to the True God, whom he confesses as the Only One on all the earth, at the same time he offers the prophet gifts (Heb. berakah, blessing, as in (Gen 33:11; 1 Sam 25:27)). But the prophet, wishing to show the newly converted foreigner that Jehovah gives healing without any compensation to His servants, decisively refuses to accept any gift from him. “The prophet preferred complete poverty to all wealth and fulfilled the gospel law even before the law was given. For it is said: ‘Freely have you received, freely give’ (Matt 10:8)” (the blessed Theodoret, question 19).

2 Kings 5:17. Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant be given two mules’ load of earth; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offerings and sacrifices to other gods but only to the Lord. In Naaman’s request to the prophet to give him a certain amount of earth from the land of Israel to construct an altar to Jehovah in his own Syria, many have seen a sharp contradiction to Naaman’s own profession of the oneness of Jehovah (2 Kgs 5:15); here Jehovah seems to be recognized by him only as the God of Canaan. But Naaman’s action expresses simply a deep reverence toward Jehovah – he regards the very land of His worship as sacred and takes a portion of the land, sanctified by the blessing of the prophet of Jehovah. His intention to perform private (not public, cf. 2 Kgs 5:18) service to Jehovah is entirely consistent with this feeling. (Even among Christians with their unconditional faith in the Unity of God there has always been the desire, for example, to take earth from Palestine).

2 Kings 5:18. “But may the Lord pardon your servant on one count: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I do this in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant on this one count. Alert in conscience, Naaman foresees an inevitable test for his faith: the duty, by virtue of his position as military commander, to accompany the king at worship in honor of Rimmon; Rimmon (Heb. rimmon – pomegranate), probably identical to the Assyrian storm god Ramman; the Hebrew name (confirmed by Telkoa-marna cuneiform evidence) may denote the idea of sun, fertility (the pomegranate – a symbol of both); further significance of the god Rimmon (seemingly greatly revered among the Syrians, as shown by the use among them of names with this god: Hadad-rimmon, (Zech 12:11); Tabrimmon, (1 Kgs 15:18)). Naaman asks that, through the prayers of the prophet, Jehovah forgive him his coming forced bowing before the idol, speaking as though thus: “I must enter with the king, when he wishes to worship a false god. But, entering with him, I shall worship the True God, beseeching Him for forgiveness in that by royal requirement I am compelled to enter the temple of the false god” (the blessed Theodoret, question 19).

2 Kings 5:19. He said, “Go in peace.” He went from him a short distance. The prophet with his farewell greeting “go in peace” as it were condescends to the anxieties of Naaman’s conscience. Regarding the distance of a kibrat-ha’aretz see the commentaries to (Gen 35:16).

2 Kings 5:20. When Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, thought, “My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him. 2 Kings 5:21. So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything all right? 2 Kings 5:22. He replied, “All is well. My master sent me to say, ‘Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two sets of garments.’ 2 Kings 5:23. Naaman said, “Please accept two talents.” He urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of garments, and gave them to two of his servants; they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 2 Kings 5:24. When he came to the citadel, he took the bags from them, and stored them inside; he sent the men away, and they left. 2 Kings 5:25. He went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, “Where have you come from, Gehazi?” He said, “Your servant has not gone anywhere. 2 Kings 5:26. He said to him, “Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept money and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and cattle, and male and female slaves? 2 Kings 5:27. Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your descendants forever.” When he left his presence, he was leprous, as white as snow. “In the prophet is worthy of admiration both the power of grace and the truth of judgment, because, learning of what Gehazi took secretly, he gave him to inherit also the leprosy of Naaman” (the blessed Theodoret, question 19).