Two Kingdoms · c. 850 BC
Chapter 9
Naaman
He answered, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see.” Yahweh opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
For parents
A little girl from Israel has been carried off by Syrian raiders and works as a maid (2 Kings 5:2). Elisha’s servant Gehazi lies to get silver and clothes, and Naaman’s leprosy comes on him, “as white as snow” (5:20–27). An army sent to seize Elisha is struck blind for a time, and the king of Israel asks whether he should kill them; Elisha has them fed and sent home instead (6:18–23).
commanded the army of the king of . His master thought of him as a great man and honored him, because through him the Lord had given Syria victory. He was a brave and mighty man too. But he had .
Bands of Syrian raiders had gone into the land of Israel and taken a little girl captive. Now she was a maid to Naaman’s wife.
“If only my master could be with the in !” she said to Naaman’s wife. “He would heal him of his leprosy.”
Someone went in and told his master what the girl from Israel had said.
“Go, then,” said the king of Syria. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” Naaman set out. He took with him ten of silver, about 660 pounds of it, along with six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes.
He brought the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “This letter is to tell you that I have sent my servant Naaman to you so you can heal him of his leprosy.”
The king of Israel read the letter and tore his clothes, as people did in grief or alarm. “Am I God, who can kill and give life?” he said. “This man sends me someone with leprosy and wants me to heal him! Just think about it. You can see he is looking for a quarrel with me.”
, the man of God, heard about the king of Israel tearing his clothes, and he sent the king a message: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let the man come to me. Then he will find out that Israel has a prophet.”
So Naaman drove up with his horses and chariots, and he stood at Elisha’s door.
Elisha sent a messenger to tell him, “Go and wash seven times in the . Your skin will be healed, and you will be clean.”
But Naaman was angry, and he went away. “I was sure he would come out to me,” he said. “I thought he would stand there and call on the name of the Lord his God, then wave his hand over the spot and take the leprosy away. Aren’t and , the rivers of , better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” And he turned away in a rage.
His servants came up to him. “My father,” they said, “if the prophet had given you some great task, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not do this, when all he says to you is ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
So Naaman went down to the Jordan and dipped himself in it seven times, doing what the man of God had said. His skin was made new, like the skin of a little child, and he was clean.
Then Naaman went back to the man of God, with everyone who had come with him. He came and stood in front of Elisha. “I know now,” he said, “that there is no God anywhere in the world except in Israel. Please, take a gift from me.”
“As the Lord lives, the one I stand before,” said Elisha, “I won’t take anything.” Naaman kept urging him to take it, but Elisha refused.
“If you won’t take anything,” said Naaman, “then please let me have enough earth to load two mules, because from now on I will offer no or to other gods, only to the Lord.
“May the Lord pardon me for this: when my master goes into the house of to worship there, he leans on my hand, and I bow low in the house of Rimmon. When I bow low in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon me for this.”
“Go in peace,” Elisha told him. So Naaman left him and went on a little way.
But , the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “My master has gone easy on this Syrian, Naaman, and hasn’t taken what he brought. As the Lord lives, I’m going to run after him and take something from him.”
So Gehazi went after Naaman. Naaman saw someone running behind him, and he got down from the chariot and came to meet him. “Is everything all right?” Naaman asked.
“Everything is fine,” said Gehazi. “My master sent me. He says, ‘Two young men from among the have just arrived from the hill country of . Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’”
“Please, take two talents,” said Naaman, and he urged Gehazi to take them. He packed two talents of silver into two bags, along with two changes of clothes, and loaded them onto two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Gehazi.
At the hill, Gehazi took the bags from the servants and stored them in the house. Then he sent the men off, and they went.
Gehazi went in and stood before his master. “Where have you come from, Gehazi?” Elisha asked.
“I didn’t go anywhere,” he answered.
But Elisha said, “Didn’t my heart go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is this a time for taking money and clothes, or olive groves and vineyards, or sheep and cattle, or servants, both men and women?
“Because of this, Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you forever, to you and to your children after you.” And when Gehazi went out from Elisha’s presence, he had leprosy, as white as snow.
“The place where we live and meet with you is too small for us,” the sons of the prophets told Elisha. “Please let us go to the Jordan. Each of us can cut a log, and we can make ourselves a place there to live in.”
“Go,” Elisha answered.
Then one of them said, “Please be kind enough to come with us.”
“I’ll come,” said Elisha, and he went with them.
At the Jordan they set to work cutting down trees. One of them was chopping down a tree when the ax head fell into the water. “Oh no, my master!” he cried. “It was borrowed!”
“Where did it fall?” asked the man of God.
The man showed him the place. Elisha cut down a stick and threw it in at that spot, and he made the iron float. “Take it,” he said. So the man reached out and took it.
Now the king of Syria was fighting a war against Israel. He made his plans with his officers and said, “I will camp in such and such a place.”
But the man of God sent a message to the king of Israel: “Be careful not to pass by that place, because the Syrians are on their way down there.”
The king of Israel sent men to the place that the man of God had warned him about, and he kept himself safe there. This happened more than once or twice.
This troubled the king of Syria deeply. He called his officers together and said, “Won’t you tell me which of us is siding with the king of Israel?”
One of his officers answered, “No, my lord the king. It’s Elisha, the prophet in Israel. He tells the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.”
“Go and see where he is,” said the king, “so that I can have him captured.”
The king was told, “He is in .”
So the king sent a great army there, with horses and chariots. They came in the night and surrounded the city.
Elisha’s servant got up early and went out. There was an army, with horses and chariots, around the city.
“Oh no, my master!” the servant said. “What are we going to do?”
Elisha answered, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes, so that he can see.” And the Lord opened the young man’s eyes. Now he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
When the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed, “Lord, please strike these people blind.” And the Lord struck them blind, just as Elisha had said.
Then Elisha told them, “This is the wrong road, and this is the wrong city. Follow me. I will bring you to the man you have come to find.” And he led them to Samaria.
When they were inside Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open these men’s eyes, so that they can see.” And the Lord opened their eyes. They saw where they were: in the middle of Samaria.
The king of Israel saw them and asked Elisha, “My father, should I strike them down? Should I strike them down?”
“Don’t strike them down,” Elisha answered. “Would you strike down people you had taken captive with your sword and your bow? Give them bread and water, so that they can eat and drink. Then let them go back to their master.”
So a great feast was prepared for them. After they ate and drank, they were sent away, and they went back to their master. And the raiding bands from Syria stopped coming into the land of Israel.