2 Kings 5:1-7

III. A MIRACLE ON BEHALF OF AN ARAMEAN GENERAL 5:1-19

The account of the healing of the leprous Naaman moves through three stages which may be labeled (1) Naaman's condition (2 Kings 5:1-7), (2) Naaman's cleansing (2 Kings 5:8-14), and (3) Naaman's conversion (2 Kings 5:15-19).

A. NAAMAN'S CONDITION 5:1-7

TRANSLATION

(1) Now Naaman the captain of the host of the king of Aram had become a great man before his master, and was held in honor, because by him the LORD had given deliverance to Aram; and the man was a mighty man of valor, a leper. (2) And the Arameans had gone out in marauding bands, and had taken captive from the land of Israel a young maiden; and she attended the wife of Naaman. (3) And she said unto her mistress, O that my master were before the prophet who is in Samaria, then he would heal him of his leprosy. (4) And he went and told his master, saying, Such and such the maiden who is from the land of Israel said. (5) And the king of Aram said, Go, depart, that I may send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of garments. (6) And he brought the letter unto the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter has come unto you, Behold I have sent unto you Naaman my servant, that you might heal him of his leprosy. (7) And it came to pass when the king of Israel read the letter, that he rent his garments, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending unto me to heal a man of his leprosy? Surely therefore note, I pray you, and see how he is picking a quarrel with me.

COMMENTS

It seems that Benhadad, who in his younger days had personally led the armies of Aram into the field of battle, had made Naaman[531] the captain of his host. Naaman had successfully led his forces in some of the initial encounters with Assyria which now was threatening the independence of Aram. Naaman did not realize it, but he was being used for this purpose by the Lord, the God of all the earth. The man was held in honor;[532] he was a mighty man of valor, i.e., a good soldier; but he was a leper (2 Kings 5:1). Leprosy had many degrees. Some of the lighter kinds would not incapacitate a man for military service or make him unfit for official court duties. Naaman's leprosy (tsara-'at) may have been more in the nature of an embarrassing skin disease.

[531] Naaman is attested as a proper name in the administrative texts from Ras Shamra. The name means gracious, pleasant. Gray, OTL, p. 504.

[532] Lit., to lift up the face. The phrase refers to the gesture of the king stretching forth his scepter and touching the face of a suppliant who had bowed to the ground before him, and lifting that face up. Gray, OTL, p. 504.

Hostilities between Israel and Aram had continued after Ahab's expedition against Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22) with the Arameans seemingly having the upper hand. Marauding bands of Arameans would make thrusts deep into Israelite territory from time to time for the purpose of capturing slaves and taking other valuables. On one such raid a little maiden was taken captive who eventually passed into the possession of Naaman's wife (2 Kings 5:2). With the passing of time, the little maid developed a genuine affection for her kindly captors, and she became genuinely distressed over the grievous affliction of her master. One day in the course of her duties, the little maid expressed aloud the wish that was in her heart, that Naaman might be brought into contact with the powerful and kindly prophet[533] in Samaria. She was confident that Elisha could cure him of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:3). The sacred historian tells nothing of the animated conversation which must have followed this confident assertion of the curability of Naaman. At first the mistress must have been incredulous, attributing the maid's confidence to her youth and simplicity. But gentle interrogation led to the revelation of dozens of marvelous stories about this man of God. The mistress concluded that she should share this information with her husband and urge him to pursue this possibility of cure, however remote it might seem.

[533] It should be noted that the maid refers to Elisha as a prophet rather than a man of God. Outside Israel the term prophet would have been more easily understood.

However skeptical Naaman himself might have been, he was finally convinced by his wife's persistence to pursue the matter. He reported the suggestion of the Israelite maid to the king (2 Kings 5:4), and much to the surprise of Naaman, the king took the whole matter seriously. He too was willing to try anything to restore the health of his friend and captain. The king urged an immediate departure, and added that he would send a letter by the hand of Naaman to the king of Israel urging that he do what he could to cure Naaman of his leprosy. So Naaman departed, taking with him an enormous treasure with which he thought he could pay for his cleansing. Ten talents of silver would be roughly equivalent to $20,000. The unit of measure is omitted for the gold, but it is likely that the amount would be six thousand shekels-' weight which would roughly be equivalent to $60,000. Finally, in addition to the silver and gold, Naaman took ten changes of garments to bestow upon his benefactor (2 Kings 5:5).

That Naaman would be able so easily to enter the court of the king of Israel with the letter from his king suggests that the state of hostilities between the two nations temporarily had been suspended. Possibly some kind of treaty arrangement existed between Aram and Israel at this time. The sacred historian gives only the gist or drift of that letter which, no doubt, was draped with all the diplomatic niceties of that day. The letter in effect demanded that the king of Israel cure Naaman of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:6). No mention was made of the prophet. Benhadad assumed that if such a powerful one existed in the realm of Israel, he would certainly be known to the king and would be at his beck and call. He can hardly be expected to have comprehended the relationship that existed between a king of Israel and a prophet of the Lord. Naturally the king of Israel was upset by the letter. He tore his clothes and cried, Am I God, to kill and make alive, i.e., am I omnipotent? He did not think of Elisha, probably because he gave no credence to the reports circulating about him. The only conclusion he could reach was that Benhadad was making these extravagant demands as a pretext for more hostility (2 Kings 5:7).