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Monday, April 28th, 2025
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the Second Week after Easter
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Bible Commentaries
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers Ellicott's Commentary
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on 2 Kings 5". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/ebc/2-kings-5.html. 1905.
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on 2 Kings 5". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/
Whole Bible (45)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (2)
Verse 1
V.
ELISHA HEALS NAAMAN THE SYRIANâS LEPROSY, AND PUNISHES GEHAZI THEREWITH.
(1) Now.âThe construction implies a break between this narrative and the preceding. Whether the events related belong to the time of Jehoram or of the dynasty of Jehu is not clear. Evidently it was a time of peace between Israel and Syria.
Naaman (beauty).âA title of the sun-god. (See Note on Isaiah 17:10.)
A great man with his master.âLiterally, before his lord. (Comp. Genesis 10:9.)
Honourable.âIn special favour. Literally, lifted up of face. (Comp. 2 Kings 3:14, Note; Isaiah 3:3.)
By him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria.âNotice the high prophetic view that it is Jehovah, not Hadad or Rimmon, who gives victory to Syria as well as Israel. (Comp. Amos 9:7.) It is natural to think of the battle in which Ahab received his mortal wound (1 Kings 22:30, seq.). The Midrash makes Naaman the man who âdrew the bow at a ventureâ on that occasion. The âdeliveranceâ was victory over Israel.
He was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.âLiterally, and the man was a brave warrior, stricken with leprosy. His leprosy need not have been so severe as to incapacitate him for military duties. The victor over Israel is represented as a leper who has to seek, and finds, his only help in Israel (Thenius).
Verse 2
(2) The Syrians.âHeb., Aram, the word rendered âSyriaâ in 2 Kings 5:1.
By companies.âOr, in troops, referring to a marauding incursion made at some time prior to the events here recorded.
Brought away captive . . . a little maid.âComp. the reference in Joel 3:6 to the PhĹnician traffic in Jewish slaves.
Verse 3
(3) Would God.âO that! âAhalĂŞ here; in Psalms 119:5, âAhalay. The word seems to follow the analogy of âashrĂŞ, âO the bliss of!â (Psalms 1:1). It perhaps means âO the delight of!â the root âahal being assumed equivalent to the Arabic halâ, Syriac halĂŽ, âdulcis fuit.â
For he would recover him.âThen he would receive him back. (Comp. Numbers 12:14-15.) In Israel lepers were excluded from society. Restoration to society implied restoration to health. Hence the same verb came to be used in the sense of healing as well as of receiving back the leper. Thenius, however, argues that as the phrase âfrom leprosyâ is wanting in Numbers 12:0, the real meaning is, âto take a person away from leprosy,â to which he had been, as it were, delivered up.
Verse 4
(4) And one went in.âAnd he (i.e., Naaman) went in: scil., into the palace. Some MSS.: âand she went in and told.â
Thus and thus.âTo avoid repetition of her actual words.
Verse 5
(5) Go to, go.âDepart thou (thither), enter (the land of Israel).
A letter.âWritten, probably, in that old Aramean script of which we have examples on Assyrian seals of the eighth century B.C. , and which closely resembled the old PhĹnician and Hebrew characters, as well as that of the Moabite stone (2 Kings 1:1, Note).
With him.âIn his hand. (Comp. the expression âto fill the hand for Jehovahââi.e., with presents; 1 Chronicles 29:5.)
Changes of raiment.âOr, holiday suits. Reuss, habits de fĂŞte. (See the same word, halĂŽphĂ´th, in Genesis 45:22.) Curiously enough, similar expressions (nahlaptum, hitlupatum) were used in the like sense by the Assyrians (Schrader).
Ten talents of silver.âAbout ÂŁ3,750 in our money. The money talent was equivalent to sixty minas, the mina to fifty shekels. The shekel came to about 2 Samuel 6:0 d. of our money.
Six thousand pieces of gold.âHeb., six thousand (in) gold: i.e., six thousand gold shekels=two talents of gold, about ÂŁ13,500. The gold shekel was worth about 45s. of our currency. The total sum appears much too large, and the numbers are probably corrupt, as is so often the case.
Verse 6
(6) Now.âHeb., And now, continuing an omitted passage. Only the principal sentence of the letter is given. The message pre-supposes a not altogether hostile relation between the two kings; and the words of the next verse, âHe seeketh a quarrel against me,â point to the time of comparative lull which ensued after the luckless expedition to Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22:0), and the short reign of the invalid Ahaziah; i.e., to the reign of Jehoram, not to that of Jehoahaz, in which Israel was wholly crushed by Syria (2 Kings 13:3-7). Schenkel thinks the Syrian inroads (2 Kings 5:2) indicate the reign of Jehu, and that Hazael was the king who wrote the letter, as he was personally acquainted with Elisha (2 Kings 5:5, seq.). But, as Thenius remarks, he forgets that the relations between Jehu and Syria were throughout strained to the last degree, so that such a friendly passage between the two kings as is here described is not to be thought of.
Verse 7
(7) He rent his clothes.âAs if he had heard blasphemy. (Comp. Matthew 26:65.)
Am I God, to kill and to make alive?âDeuteronomy 32:39, âI kill, and I make alive;â 1 Samuel 2:6, âThe Lord killeth, and maketh alive.â Leprosy was a kind of living death. (Comp. Numbers 12:12, Heb., âLet her not become as the dead, who, when he cometh forth of his motherâs womb, hath half his flesh consumed.â)
Wherefore.âHeb., For only know (i.e., notice), and see. Plural verbs are used, because the king is addressing his grandees, in whose presence the letter would be delivered and read.
He seeketh a quarrel.âThis form of the verb (hithpael) occurs here only. (Comp. the noun, Judges 14:4.) Jehoram was hardly in a position to renew the war, after the severe defeat of his father (1 Kings 22:30, seq.).
Verse 8
(8) There is a prophet.âWith stress on there is (yçsh): scil., as his message pre-supposes.
When Elisha . . . had heard.âHe was in Samaria at the time (2 Kings 5:3), and would hear of the coming of the great Syrian captain and of the kingâs alarm. Why did not Jehoram think at once of Elisha? King and prophet were not on good terms with each other. (Comp. 2 Kings 3:14.) Besides, Elisha had not as yet done any miracle of this sort; and his apprehensions may have made the king unable, for the moment, to think at all.
Verse 9
(9) With his horses and with his chariot.âChariots. (See on 2 Kings 2:11-12; and comp. 2 Kings 5:15, infra.) The proper term for a single chariot is used in 2 Kings 5:21. The magnificence of his retinue is suggested.
Stood.âStopped. The text hardly conveys, as Bähr thinks, the idea that Elishaâs house in Samaria was âa poor hovel,â which the great man would not deign to enter, but waited for the prophet to come forth to him. The prophet had âa messengerâ (2 Kings 5:10) at his command.
Verse 10
(10) Elisha sent a messenger.âAvoiding personal contact with a leper. (Comp. 2 Kings 5:15, where Naaman, when restored, goes in and stands before the prophet.) Perhaps reverence held back those who consulted a great prophet from entering his presence (comp. 2 Kings 4:12); and therefore, Naaman stopped with his followers outside the house. Keil suggests that Elisha did not come out to Naaman, because he wished to humble his pride, and to show that his worldly magnificence did not impress the prophet. But, as Thenius says, there is no trace of pride about Naaman.
Go.âInfinitive, equivalent to the imperative. (Comp. 2 Kings 3:16; and perhaps 2 Kings 4:43.)
Wash in (the) Jordan.âThis command would make it clear that Naaman was not cured by any external means applied by the prophet. âThe Syrians knew as well as the Israelites that the Jordan could not heal leprosyâ (Bähr). Naaman was to understand that he was healed by the God of Israel, at His prophetâs prayer. (Comp. 2 Kings 5:15.)
Thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.âLiterally, and let thy flesh come back to thee, and be thou clean. Leprosy is characterised by raw flesh and running sores, which end in entire wasting away of the tissues.
Verse 11
(11) But (and) Naaman was wroth.âBecause, as his words show, he thought he was mocked by the prophet.
I thought.âI said to myself.
Strike his hand.âRather, wave his hand towards the place. (Comp. Isaiah 10:15; Isaiah 11:15.) He would not touch the unclean place.
Recover the leper.âOr, take away the leprous (part). So Thenius; but everywhere else mÄçôrââ means âleprous man,â âleperâ (Leviticus 14:2).
Verse 12
(12) Abana.âSo Hebrew text; Hebrew margin, Amana; and so many MSS., Complut., LXX., Targum, Syriac. (Comp. Amana, Song of Solomon 4:8, as name of a peak of the Lebanon, which is common in the Assyrian inscriptions also.) The river is identified with the present Burâda, or Barady (âthe coldâ), which descends from the Anti-Lebanon, and flows through Damascus in seven streams. (The Arabic version has Bardâ.)
Pharpar.âParpar (âthe swiftâ), the present Nahr el-Awâj, which comes down from the great Hermon, and flows by Damascus on the south. Both rivers have clear water, as being mountain streams, whereas the Jordan is turbid and discoloured.
Rivers of Damascus.âAdd the. Damascus is still famous for its wholesome water.
May I not wash in them, and be clean?âIf mere washing in a river be enough, it were easy to do that at home, and to much better advantage.
Verse 13
(13) Came near.âComp. Genesis 18:23.
My father.âA title implying at once respect and affection. (Comp. 1 Samuel 24:11; 2 Kings 6:21.) Perhaps, however, the word is a corruption of âim (âifâ), which is otherwise not expressed in the Hebrew.
Great thing.âEmphatic in the Hebrew.
Wouldest thou not have done?âOr,wouldest thou not do?
He saith.âHe hath said.
Be clean?âi.e., thou shalt be clean: a common Hebrew idiom.
Verse 14
(14) Then went he down.âAnd he went down: scil., from Samaria to the Jordan bed. The Syriac and Arabic, and some Hebrew MSS., read âand he departed;â probably an error of transcription.
Seven times.ââBecause seven was significant of the Divine covenant with Israel, and the cure depended on that covenant; or to stamp the cure as a Divine work, for seven is the signature of the works of Godâ (Keil). In the Assyrian monuments there is an almost exact parallel to the above method of seeking a cure. It occurs among the so-called exorcisms, and belongs to the age of Sargon of AgadĂŞ (Accad), before 2200 B.C. Merodach is represented as asking his father Hea how to cure a sick man. Hea replies that the sick man must go and bathe in the sacred waters at the mouth of the Euphrates. It thus appears that in bidding Naaman bathe seven times in the Jordan, Elisha acted in accordance with ancient Semitic belief as to the healing virtue of running streams.
Verse 15
(15) Company.âHeb., camp, host. Naamanâs following consisted of âhorses and chariotsâ (2 Kings 5:9).
Came.âWent in: into Elishaâs house. Gratitude overcame awe and dread.
Behold, now.âBehold, I pray thee. The ânowâ belongs to âbehold,â not to âI know.â
I know that . . . in Israel.âNaaman, like most of his contemporaries, Jewish as well as Syriau, believed in locally restricted deities. The powerlessness of the Syrian gods and the potency of Jehovah having been brought home to his mind by his marvellous recovery, he concludes that there is no god anywhere save in the land of Israel. In other words, his local conception of deity still clings to him. What a mark of historic truth appears in this representation!
Now therefore.âAnd now.
Take a blessing of.âAccept a present from (Genesis 33:11).
Verse 16
(16) But.âAnd (both times).
I will receive none.âTheodoret compares our Lordâs âFreely ye have received, freely giveâ (Matthew 10:8). (Comp. Acts 8:20.) Such may have been Elishaâs feeling. His refusal, strongly contrasting with the conduct of ordinary prophets, Israelite and heathen (comp. 1 Samuel 9:6-9), would make a deep impression upon Naaman and his retinue.
Verse 17
(17) Shall there not then.âRather, If not, let there be given, I pray thee. LXX., Îι὜ Îľáź° Ο὾.
Two mulesâ burden of earth?âLiterally, a load of a yoke of mulesâ (in) earth. It was natural for Naaman, with his local idea of divinity, to make this request. He wished to worship the God of Israel, so far as possible, on the soil of Israel, Jehovahâs own land. He would therefore build his altar to Jehovah on a foundation of this earth, or construct the altar itself therewith. (Comp. Exodus 20:24; 1 Kings 18:38.)
Burnt offering nor sacrifice.âBurnt offering nor peace offering.
Offer.âLiterally, make.
Verse 18
(18) In this thing.âTouching this thing (but in at the end of the verse). The LXX. and Syriac read, âand touching this thing,â an improvement in the connection.
To worship.âTo bow down (the same verb occurs thrice in the verse).
The house of Rimmon.âThe Assyrian Rammânu (from ramâmu, âto thunderâ). One of his epithets in the cuneiform is Râmimu, âthe thunderer;â and another is Barqu (=Bâriqu), âhe who lightens.â Rimmon was the god of the atmosphere, called in Accadian, AN. IM (âgod of the air or windâ), figured on bas-reliefs and cylinders as armed with the thunderbolt. His name is prominent in the story of the Flood (e.g., it is said Rammânu irmum, âRimmon thunderedâ); and one of his standing titles is Râhiçu (âhe who delugesâ). The Assyrians identified Rammân with the Aramean and Edomite Hadad. (Comp. the name Hadad-rimmon, Zechariah 12:11; and Tabrimon, 1 Kings 15:18.) A list of no fewer than forty-one titles of Rimmon has been found among the cuneiform tablets.
Leaneth on my hand.âA metaphor denoting the attendance on the king by his favourite grandee or principal adjutant. (Comp. 2 Kings 7:2; 2 Kings 7:17.)
When I bow down myself.âAn Aramaic form is used. The clause is omitted in some Hebrew MSS.
The Lord pardon thy servant.âNaaman had solemnly promised to serve no god but Jehovah for the future. He now prays that an unavoidable exceptionâwhich will, indeed, be such only in appearanceâmay be excused by Jehovah. His request is not, of course, to be judged by a Christian standard. By the reply, âGo in peace,â the prophet, as spokesman of Jehovah, acceded to Naamanâs prayer. âNaaman durst not profess conversion to the foreign cultus before the king, his master; so he asks leave to go on assisting at the national ritesâ (Reuss).
The Lord pardon.âIn the current Hebrew text it is the Lord pardon, I pray. The LXX. appears to have had the same reading; but very many MSS. and all the other versions omit the precative particle. It is, however, probably genuine.
Verse 19
(19) A little way.âHeb., a kibrâh of ground (Genesis 35:16). It seems to mean âa length of ground,â âa certain distance,â without defining exactly how far. Had it been a parasang, as the Syriac renders, Gehazi could not have overtaken the company so easily.
Verse 20
(20) Saidâi.e., thought.
This Syrian.âHe justifies his purpose on the principle of âspoiling the Egyptians.â
But, as the Lord liveth, I will run.âRather, by the life of Jehovah, but I will run. (Comp. Note on 2 Kings 4:30.)
Verse 21
(21) He lighted down from the chariot to meet him.âAn Oriental mark of respect. Literally, fell from off the chariot: an expression denoting haste (Genesis 24:64). The LXX. has âhe turned,â which implies an ellipsis of âand descended.â
Is all well?âNaaman feared something might have befallen the prophet. The LXX. omits this.
Verse 22
(22) Even now.âOr, this moment, just.
Mount Ephraim.âThe hill-country of Ephraim,or highlands of Ephraim, where Gilgal and Bethel were situate.
Changes of garments.âThe same phrase as in 2 Kings 5:5.
Verse 23
(23) Be content.âBe willing, consent to take. The Vatican LXX. omits; the Alexandrian renders Îąá˝Ďοῌ, owing to a transposition of the Hebrew letters (hÄlĂ´â for hĂ´âĂŞl).
Bound.âDeuteronomy 14:25.
Bags.âOnly here and in Isaiah 3:22, where it means âpurses.â
Laid them upon two.âGave them to two of his (i.e., Naamanâs) young men. The courtesy of the act is obvious.
Before him.âGehazi.
Verse 24
(24) The tower.âHeb., the âĂ´phel, the mound, on which the prophetâs house may have stood. There would be no window in the exterior wall from which Gehazi and his companions might have been observed approaching. Perhaps, however, a fortified hill, forming part of the system of defences surrounding Samaria, like the Ophel at Jerusalem, is to be understood. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 27:3.) Elishaâs house lay within the city wall (2 Kings 6:30, seq.). Keil explains the hill on which Samaria was built. (Comp. Isaiah 32:14, and Cheyneâs Note; Micah 4:8 : âAnd thou, O tower of the flock; O mound of the daughter of Zion.â) This note of place is also a note of historical truth.
Bestowed them in the house.âStowed them away, laid them up carefully in the (prophetâs) house. LXX., ĎÎąĎέθξĎÎż.
Let the men go.âBefore he âbestowedâ their burdens in the house.
Verse 25
(25) But he.âAnd he himself (after putting away his ill-gotten gains).
Went in.âInto his masterâs chamber. Gehazi was already in the house.
Stood before.âCame forward to (2 Chronicles 6:12).
Thy servant went no whither.âLiterally, Thy servant went not away hither nor thither.
Verse 26
(26) Went not mine heart . . . meet thee?âRather, Nor did my heart (i.e., consciousness) go away, when a man turned (and alighted) from his chariot to meet thee. The prophet, in severe irony, adopts Gehaziâs own phrase: Maurer, âNon abierat animus meus;â âI was there in spirit, and witnessed everything.â The sentence has given the commentators much trouble. (See the elaborate Note in Thenius. We might have expected wÄlĂ´, and w may have been omitted, owing to the preceding w; but it is not absolutely necessary.) The Authorised Version follows the LXX. (Vat.), which supplies the expression âwith theeâ (ΟξĎá˝° ĎοῌĚ), wanting in the Hebrew text. The Targum paraphrases: âBy the spirit of prophecy I was informed when the man turned,â &c. The Syriac follows with, âMy heart informed me when the man turned,â &c.
Is it a time to receive.âComp. Ecclesiastes 3:2, seq. The LXX., pointing the Hebrew differently, reads: κι὜ νῌν áźÎťÎąÎ˛ÎľĎ Ďὸ�. (âAnd now thou receivedst the money,â &c.). So also the Vulg. and Arabic, but not the Targum and Syriac. BĂśttcher, retaining the interrogative particle of the Hebrew, adopts this: âDidst thou then take the money?â &c. But the Masoretic pointing appears to be much more suitable. The prophetâs question comes to this: âWas that above all others a proper occasion for yielding to your desire of gain, when you were dealing with a heathen? Ought you not to have been studiously disinterested in your behaviour to such an one, that he might learn not to confound the prophets of Jehovah with the mercenary diviners and soothsayers of the false gods?â The prophetâs disciple is bound, like his master, to seek, not worldly power, but spiritual; for the time is one of ardent struggle against the encroachments of paganism.
And oliveyards . . . maidservants?âThe prophet develops Gehaziâs object in asking for the money: he wished to purchase lands, and live stock, and slavesâwhatever constituted the material wealth of the time. The Targum inserts the explanatory: âAnd thou thoughtest in thy heart to purchase oliveyards,â &c. So Vulg.: âut emas oliveta.â
Verse 27
(27) Shall cleave.âOr, cleave! i.e., let it cleave. The prophetic sentence is naturally expressed as an imperative.
A leper as white as snow.âComp. Exodus 4:6 Numbers 12:10. A sudden outbreak of leprosy may follow upon extreme fright or mortification (Michaelis).
Unto thy seed for ever.âLike other skin diseases, leprosy is hereditary. If it be thought that the sentence is too strong, it should be remembered that the prophet is really pronouncing inspired judgment upon the sin of Gehazi, and milder language might have produced erroneous impressions. Covetousness and lying are never spared in Scripture, and it is well for mankind that it is so. (Comp. Acts 5:0)