2 Kings 5

2Ki 5:1-7.

NAAMAN'S

LEPROSY.

1. Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man

with his master--highly esteemed for his military character and

success.

and honourable--rather, "very rich."

but he was a leper--This leprosy, which, in Israel, would have

excluded him from society, did not affect his free intercourse in the

court of Syria.

2-5. a little maid--who had been captured in one of the many

predatory incursions which were then made by the Syrians on the

northern border of Israel (see

1Sa 30:8;

2Ki 13:21; 24:2).

directed to the prophet of Israel, as the person who would remove his

leprosy. Naaman, on communicating the matter to his royal master, was

immediately furnished with a letter to the king of Israel, and set out

for Samaria, carrying with him, as an indispensable preliminary in the

East, very costly presents.

5. ten talents of silver--£3421; 6000 shekels of gold; a

large sum of uncertain value.

ten changes of raiment--splendid dresses, for festive occasions--the

honor being thought to consist not only in the beauty and fineness of

the material, but on having a variety to put on one after another, in

the same night.

7. when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his

clothes--According to an ancient practice among the Eastern people,

the main object only was stated in the letter that was carried by the

party concerned, while other circumstances were left to be explained at

the interview. This explains Jehoram's burst of emotion--not horror at

supposed blasphemy, but alarm and suspicion that this was merely made

an occasion for a quarrel. Such a prince as he was would not readily

think of Elisha, or, perhaps, have heard of his miraculous deeds.

2Ki 5:8-15.

ELISHA

SENDS

HIM TO

JORDAN, AND

HE

IS

HEALED.

8-12. when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had

rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, . . . let him come

now to me--This was the grand and ultimate object to which, in the

providence of God, the journey of Naaman was subservient. When the

Syrian general, with his imposing retinue, arrived at the prophet's

house, Elisha sent him a message to "go and wash in Jordan seven

times." This apparently rude reception to a foreigner of so high

dignity incensed Naaman to such a degree that he resolved to depart,

scornfully boasting that the rivers of Damascus were better than all

the waters of Israel.

11. strike his hand over the place--that is, wave it over the diseased

parts of his body. It was anciently, and still continues to be, a very

prevalent superstition in the East that the hand of a king, or person

of great reputed sanctity, touching, or waved over a sore, will heal

it.

12. Abana and Pharpar--the Barrady and one of its five

tributaries--uncertain which. The waters of Damascus are still highly

extolled by their inhabitants for their purity and coldness.

14. Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in

Jordan--Persuaded by his calmer and more reflecting attendants to

try a method so simple and easy, he followed their instructions, and

was cured. The cure was performed on the basis of God's covenant with

Israel, by which the land, and all pertaining to it, was blessed. Seven

was the symbol of the covenant [KEIL].

2Ki 5:15-19.

ELISHA

REFUSES

NAAMAN'S

GIFTS.

15, 16. he returned to the man of God--After the miraculous cure,

Naaman returned to Elisha, to whom he acknowledged his full belief in

the sole supremacy of the God of Israel and offered him a liberal

reward. But to show that he was not actuated by the mercenary motives

of the heathen priests and prophets, Elisha, though he accepted

presents on other occasions

(2Ki 4:42),

respectfully but firmly declined them on this, being desirous that the

Syrians should see the piety of God's servants, and their superiority

to all worldly and selfish motives in promoting the honor of God and

the interests of true religion.

17. two mules' burden of earth--with which to make an altar

(Ex 20:24)

to the God of Israel. What his motive or his purpose was in this

proposal--whether he thought that God could be acceptably worshipped

only on his own soil; or whether he wished, when far away from

the Jordan, to have the earth of Palestine to rub himself with,

which the Orientals use as a substitute for water; or whether, by

making such a request of Elisha, he thought the prophet's grant of it

would impart some virtue; or whether, like the modern Jews and

Mohammedans, he resolved to have a portion of this holy earth

for his nightly pillow--it is not easy to say. It is not strange to

find such notions in so newly a converted heathen.

18. goeth into the house of Rimmon--a Syrian deity; probably the

sun, or the planetary system, of which a pomegranate

(Hebrew, Rimmon) was the symbol.

leaneth on my hand--that is, meaning the service which Naaman rendered

as the attendant of his sovereign. Elisha's prophetic commission not

extending to any but the conversion of Israel from idolatry, he makes

no remark, either approving or disapproving, on the declared course of

Naaman, but simply gives the parting benediction

(2Ki 5:19).

2Ki 5:20-27.

GEHAZI, BY A

LIE,

OBTAINS A

PRESENT, BUT

IS

SMITTEN WITH

LEPROSY.

20-25. I will run after him, and take somewhat of him--The respectful

courtesy to Elisha, shown in the person of his servant, and the

open-handed liberality of his gifts, attest the fulness of Naaman's

gratitude; while the lie--the artful management is dismissing the

bearers of the treasure, and the deceitful appearance before his

master, as if he had not left the house--give a most unfavorable

impression of Gehazi's character.

23. in two bags--People in the East, when travelling, have their money,

in certain sums, put up in bags.

27. leper as white as

snow--(See on

Le 13:3).

This heavy infliction was not too severe for the crime of Gehazi. For

it was not the covetousness alone that was punished; but, at the same

time, it was the ill use made of the prophet's name to gain an object

prompted by a mean covetousness, and the attempt to conceal it by lying

[KEIL].