2 Kings 5:5

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.

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 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

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.