2 Kings 5:5

5 And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel."So he went, ¹taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels^[a] of gold, and ten ²changes of clothing.

2 Kings 5:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 5:5

And the king of Syria said, go to, go
On what Naaman related to him from what the maid had said, he urged him by all means to go directly to Samaria:

and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel;
recommending him to use his interest in his behalf; this was Jehoram the son of Ahab:

and he departed;
set out on his journey immediately, as soon as he could conveniently:

and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of
gold;
partly for the expenses of his journey, and partly to make presents to the king of Israel's servants, and especially to the prophet; a talent of silver, according to Brerewood ^F4, was three hundred and seventy five pounds of our money; but, according to Bishop Cumberland's ^F5 exact calculation, it was three hundred and fifty and three pounds eleven shillings and ten and an half pence the pieces of gold are, by the Targum, called golden pence, and a golden penny, according to the first of the above writers ^F6, was of the value of our money fifteen shillings; so that these amounted to 4500 pounds sterling:

and ten changes of raiment;
both for his own use, and presents.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4.
F5 Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 4. p. 120.
F6 Ut supra, (De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num.) c. 3.

2 Kings 5:5 In-Context

3 She said to her mistress, "Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, "Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel."

5 And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel."So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy."

7 And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me."

Cross References

• 1. [2 Kings 4:42; 2 Kings 8:8, 9; 1 Samuel 9:7]
• 2. ver. 22, 23; [Judges 14:12]

Footnotes

• [a]. A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams