2 Kings 5:4-14

4 And one went in , and told his lord, saying , Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

5 And the king of Syria said , Go to , go , and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed , and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying , Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.

7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said , Am I God, to kill and to make alive , that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider , I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying , Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

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 .

11 But Naaman was wroth , and went away , and said , Behold, I thought , He will surely come out to me, and stand , and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper .

12 Are not Abana * and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean ? So he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near , and spake unto him, and said , My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash , and be clean ?

14 Then went he down , and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean .

2 Kings 5:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 5

This chapter gives an account of the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian, and of the cure of it by Elisha; how he came to hear of him, and the recommendation he had from the king of Syria to the king of Israel, 2Ki 5:1-8, who, coming to Elisha's house, was ordered to dip himself seven times in Jordan, which made him depart in wrath; but one of his servants persuaded him to do it, and he did, and was cured, 2Ki 5:9-14, upon which he returned to Elisha, and offered him a present, which he refused, 2Ki 5:15-19 but Gehazi, his servant, ran after him with a lie in his mouth, and obtained it, and returned to his master with another, for which he was smitten with the leprosy of Naaman, 2Ki 5:20-27.

Footnotes

• [a]. I thought: Heb. I said
• [b]. Abana: or, Amana