2 Kings 5:15-19

C. NAAMAN'S CONVERSION 5:15-19

TRANSLATION

(15) And he returned unto the man of God, he and all his company. And he came, and stood before him, and said, Behold, I pray you, I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now take, I pray you, a blessing of your servant. (16) And he said, As the LORD lives before whom I stand, I shall take none. And he implored him to take it, but he refused. (17) And Naaman said, Then shall not there be given, I pray you, two mule burdens of earth? For henceforth your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to another god except the LORD. (18) For this thing may the LORD pardon your servant, when my master goes to the house of Rimmon to wor ship, and he leans upon my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant In this thing. (19) And he said unto him, Go in peace. And he went from him a little way.

COMMENTS

The grateful Naaman was determined to express his appreciation to the man of God even though the return trip to Samaria would take him at least forty miles out of his way and delay his return to Damascus by at least one day. At the Jordan, Naaman's heart was transformed as well as his flesh. He waded into the waters a worshiper of Rimmon and emerged a worshiper of Yahweh. He had to repay this prophet of God, and all thoughts of personal delay and inconvenience were banished. The once pompous and haughty Aramean was now contrite and humble. He descended from his chariot, went into the prophet's abode, and stood before him. What a change conversion makes in the disposition of a man! The confession of faith made by this foreign general is an acknowledgment of the sole supremacy of Yahweh. Other heathens in Scripture confess that Yahweh is a god or God of Israel; but Naaman confessed that Yahweh was the one and only God in all the earth. He was anxious that Elisha would take a blessing, i.e., a present, in appreciation for what he had done. Pagan people customarily bestowed great gifts upon the oracles which they consulted, and Naaman quite naturally and reasonably made the offer (2 Kings 5:15).

Though the Old Testament prophets did not generally object to freewill offerings from those who consulted them, on this occasion Elisha thought it best to decline the proffered reward. Naaman needed to learn that Yahweh was his true healer, Elisha but His representative. It was thus to Yahweh and not Elisha that Naaman owed his gratitude and his offerings. True to the dictates of oriental hospitality, Naaman continued to urge the prophet to accept the gifts; but it soon became obvious to him that Elisha was not simply making a courteous pretense of disinterest. He was absolutely declining to accept any reward for his services (2 Kings 5:16).

Even though Elisha refused to take from Naaman any gift, the Aramean would request one gift of Elishatwo mule loads of earth. The text does not explain what Naaman intended to do with this soil, but the general opinion is that he intended to spread it on the surface of a plot in Aram so as to consecrate that ground and make it a suitable place upon which to worship the Lord. In the mind of this newly converted heathen, the ground of Israel would be more holy, more appropriate for the worship of the God of Israel.

That the requested soil was intended for use in creating a place of worship seems to be implied in the declaration which immediately followed the request, viz., that Naaman henceforth would cease to offer sacrifice to any god other than Yahweh (2 Kings 5:17). His sincerity in this declaration is indicated by the one exception which immediately came to his mind. He knew that as captain of the host he would be required to attend the temple of Rimmon[536] with his king and would be compelled to bow before the image of that god. He was not willing to offend his master by refusing these formalities, and yet he realized in his heart that this would be inconsistent with the solemn declaration he had just made to worship Yahweh alone. He therefore expressed the hope that the Lord would pardon him of this wrong (2 Kings 5:18). Elisha did not declare that God would or would not overlook this departure from strict monotheism. He was not called upon to give an answer since Naaman had not asked a question but had only expressed a wish. Elisha's Go in peace should be taken simply as wishing the peace of God to be on the departing Aramean (2 Kings 5:19).

[536] Rimmon (pomegranate) is a parody of Ramman, the title of Hadad, the Aramean Baal. Hadad was god of the storm.