1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance to Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, [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 to her mistress, I would that 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, Come, go, and I will send a letter to 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 hath come to thee, behold, I have [with this] 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 to 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, Why 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 to 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 spoke to him, and said, My father, [if] the prophet had bid thee [do some] great thing, wouldst thou not have done [it] ? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14 Then he went down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like 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 from 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 to other gods, but to 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 to 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 from 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 have 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 bore [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 to him, Whence [comest thou] Gehazi? and he said, Thy servant went no whither. 26 And he said to him, Went not my 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 olive-yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants? 27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave to thee, and to thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper [as white] as snow.
2 Kings · Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
2 Kings 5 Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Gehazi
Elisha's servant, who carried messages to the Shunammite woman, took gifts from Naaman by deceit and was struck with Naaman's leprosy, and later told the king of Elisha's wonders.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 4:12; 2 Kings 4:31; 2 Kings 5:20
Naaman
The commander of the army of the king of Aram, a mighty man of valor with leprosy, who went to Elisha on the advice of an Israelite girl, washed seven times in the Jordan, and was…
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 5:1; 2 Kings 5:9; 2 Kings 5:14
Places
Damascus
An ancient Aramean capital where Saul (Paul) was converted and first preached. He later escaped over its wall in a basket.
Cited in the guide: Acts 9:3; Genesis 14:15; 2 Kings 5:12
Cross references (26)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Luke 4:27; Romans 15:18; Proverbs 21:31; Numbers 12:10–12; Esther 9:4
- 2 2 Kings 6:23; 2 Kings 13:20; Psalm 123:2; 1 Samuel 13:17–18; Judges 9:34
- 3 Numbers 11:29; Acts 26:29; Luke 17:12–14; 1 Corinthians 4:8; Matthew 11:5
- 4 1 Corinthians 1:26–27; 2 Kings 7:9–11; Mark 5:19; John 1:42–46; John 4:28–29
- 5 Judges 14:12; 2 Kings 8:8–9; Ecclesiastes 2:1; Genesis 45:22; Isaiah 5:5
- 7 1 Samuel 2:6; Genesis 30:2; 1 Kings 20:7; Deuteronomy 32:39; Hosea 6:1
- 8 2 Kings 5:15; 2 Samuel 3:31; 1 Kings 17:24; 1 Kings 18:36–37; Romans 11:13
- 9 Isaiah 60:14; 2 Kings 6:32; Acts 16:37–39; Acts 16:29–30; 2 Kings 3:12
- 10 John 9:7; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Leviticus 14:7; Matthew 15:23–26; Joshua 6:4
- 11 Proverbs 13:10; John 4:48; Matthew 15:27; 1 Corinthians 1:21–25; 1 Corinthians 2:14–16
- 12 Mark 1:9; Joshua 3:15–17; 2 Kings 2:14; 2 Kings 5:17; Proverbs 19:11
- 13 2 Kings 6:21; Job 32:8–9; 2 Kings 2:12; Revelation 7:14; 2 Kings 13:14
- 14 Job 33:25; Luke 4:27; Luke 5:13; Zechariah 14:8; John 2:5
- 15 Daniel 2:47; Daniel 6:26–27; Joshua 2:9–11; 2 Kings 5:8; Isaiah 44:8
- 16 2 Kings 5:26; 2 Kings 3:14; 2 Kings 5:20; Genesis 14:22–23; 1 Kings 13:8
- 17 Acts 26:18; 1 Peter 4:3; Romans 14:1; Exodus 20:24; 2 Kings 5:12
- 18 2 Kings 7:2; 2 Kings 7:17; Jeremiah 50:20; 2 Kings 17:35; 1 Kings 19:18
- 19 1 Samuel 1:17; Mark 5:34; Exodus 4:18; Matthew 9:16–17; Luke 8:48
- 20 2 Kings 4:12; Titus 1:7; 2 Kings 6:31; 2 Kings 4:36; 2 Kings 4:31
- 21 Acts 10:25–26; 2 Kings 4:26; Luke 7:6–7; 2 Kings 9:17–22; Acts 8:31
- 22 2 Kings 5:5; Jeremiah 9:5; John 8:44; Revelation 21:8; Acts 5:3–4
- 23 2 Kings 5:16; 2 Kings 2:17; Isaiah 30:6; Luke 11:54; 1 Kings 20:7
- 24 1 Kings 21:16; Joshua 7:21; Joshua 7:1; Joshua 7:11–12; Habakkuk 2:6
- 25 2 Kings 5:22; Proverbs 30:20; Acts 5:3–4; Ezekiel 33:31; John 13:26–30
- 26 Colossians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 5:3; 2 Kings 6:12; Acts 20:35; 2 Kings 5:16
- 27 Exodus 4:6; Numbers 12:10; 2 Kings 15:5; Joshua 7:25; 2 Kings 5:1
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For, following the Septuagint version, these are the prophet's words: "Did not my heart go with thee, when the man came out of his chariot to meet thee, and thou tookedst his gifts?" Or, as the presbyter Jerome rendered it from the Hebrew, "Was not my heart present when the man turned from his chariot to meet thee?" The prophet …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
"For I thought," saith he, "he will surely come out, and will lay on his hand." For in truth they who are more or less dull of temper, require sight and sensible things.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
And when he came, Elisseus asked him; and like Peter, when he said, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? he also enquires, Whence comest thou, Gehazi?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)