2 Kings Chapter 5

At a Glance

  • Chapter 5 centers on Naaman, a powerful Syrian general, and the paradox of healing through humble credentials.
  • The story unfolds as a dramatic encounter between two cultures, two faiths, and two modes of power: human prowess and divine intervention.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • This chapter is part of the Elisha cycle that highlights God’s power operating through a prophet who acts as mediator between Israel and the nations.
  • - Humility before God’s method: Naaman’s initial pride versus his eventual obedience.

Chapter Overview

Chapter 5 centers on Naaman, a powerful Syrian general, and the paradox of healing through humble credentials. Naaman, a respected warrior but afflicted with leprosy, receives a humanly improbable cure through steps of obedience commanded by the prophet Elisha: wash seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman’s initial pride—the expectation that Elisha would personally appear, perform a ceremonial gesture, and grant a dramatic healing—collides with the simplicity of the instruction. Ultimately, Naaman complies, his body cleansed, and his heart redirected toward the God of Israel. Yet the chapter also portrays a parallel arc: the Israelite servant girl’s faith and simple word leading to national recognition of the one true God, thereby expanding the arc of divine mercy beyond national borders. Gehazi’s later misstep introduces a cautionary counterpoint about divine mercy, entitlement, and corruption.

The story unfolds as a dramatic encounter between two cultures, two faiths, and two modes of power: human prowess and divine intervention. The healing is less about the ritual of cleansing than about surrender to God’s method, humility before a foreign prophet, and the recognition that mercy transcends national loyalty. The chapter also sets up a broader narrative about growth in trust—Naaman’s reluctant faith gradually becomes devotion as he recognizes the God behind the sign. The motif of dipping in water echoes other purification stories, while the innermost conversion—showing reverence for the Lord and requesting land for worship—signals a transformed life beyond physical healing.

Historical & Literary Context

This chapter is part of the Elisha cycle that highlights God’s power operating through a prophet who acts as mediator between Israel and the nations. It illustrates how God’s mercy reaches beyond Israel’s borders, foreshadowing prophetic expansion in later biblical witness. The language and tone blend historical narrative with miracle motifs, including multiple speaking roles (the captive girl, Elisha, Gehazi, Naaman). The Syrian king’s reliance on wealth and military might contrasts with Naaman’s encounter with God through humble obedience, offering commentary on how true healing comes through receptive faith rather than status or self-sufficiency.

Key Themes

- Humility before God’s method: Naaman’s initial pride versus his eventual obedience.

- God’s mercy across borders: healing offered to a non-Israelite and the recognition of the true God.

- The role of the marginalized in revealing God: the captive girl’s faith prompts healing.

- Proper worship and life transformation: Naaman’s request for ceremonial worship in the future.

- The danger of zeal without integrity: Gehazi’s deception and its consequences.

Modern Application

The chapter invites readers to question how we approach God’s interventions. Do we attempt to dictate the method and the signs, or do we embrace God’s unconventional pathways to healing and transformation? It challenges pride, urging humility and readiness to obey even when the path seems unfamiliar or disappointing. The story also emphasizes inter-cultural humility and hospitality: recognizing the transcendent mercy of God beyond tribal or national boundaries. For communities today, the chapter encourages including the “other” in the narrative of grace, learning to listen to testimonies that differ from our own, and acknowledging that God’s deeds invite praise and worship that are not restricted to one tradition.

Cross-References

- 2 Kings 4 (the Shunammite miracle)

- Exodus 15 (waters of healing and purification)

- Luke 4:27 (God’s mercy extended to Gentiles)

- Isaiah 55 (God’s ways are higher than ours)

- 1 Kings 17 (healing through prophetic word and obedience)

Recommended Personas

- Naaman (for wrestling pride and faith)

- Gehazi (as cautionary figure of deceit)

- The Israelite Maid (for faithful witness across boundaries)

- Elisha (for prophetic guidance)

- Jesus (as fulfillment of healing through faith and humility)

Chapter Text

1

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

2

And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.

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.

8

And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

9

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

10

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

11

But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12

Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

13

And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

14

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15

And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

16

But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.

17

And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.

18

In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

19

And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

20

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

21

So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?

22

And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.

23

And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him.

24

And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.

25

But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither.

26

And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?

27

The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

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