2 Kings 5:18

_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._ Goeth into the house of Rimmon - a Syrian deity, probably the sun, or the planetary system, of which a pomegranate (Hebrew Rimmon) was the symbol. LEANETH ON MY HAND - i:e., meaning the service which Naaman rendered as the attendant of his sovereign. It is quite clear that Naaman, as a convert to the faith of the true God, meant to perform no act of religion in the temple of Rimmon, and hoped that his official attendance there upon his royal master would be pardoned, as not done by his consenting will. In regard to the privilege of toleration to worship the true God, there is no reason to believe that it would not be e...

15-19 The mercy of the cure affected Naaman more than the miracle. Those are best able to speak of the power of Divine grace, who themselves experience it. He also shows himself grateful to Elisha the prophet. Elijah refused any recompence, not because he thought it unlawful, for he received presents from others, but to show this new convert that the servants of the God of Israel looked upon worldly wealth with a holy contempt. The whole work was from God, in such a manner, that the prophet would not give counsel when he had no directions from the Lord. It is not well violently to oppose the lesser mistakes which unite with men's first convictions; we cannot bring men forward any faster than the Lord prepares them to receive instruction. Yet as to us, if, in covenanting with God, we desire to reserve any known sin, to continue to indulge ourselves in it, that is a breach of his covenant...

Verse 2 Kings 5:18. _IN THIS THING THE LORD PARDON THY SERVANT_] It is useless to enter into the controversy concerning this verse. By no rule of right reasoning, nor by any legitimate mode of interpretation, can it be stated that Naaman is asking pardon for offenses which he _may commit_, or that he could ask or the prophet grant _indulgence_ to bow himself in the temple of Rimmon, thus performing a decided act of _homage_, the very essence of that worship which immediately before he solemnly assured the prophet he would never practise. The original may legitimately be read, and _ought_ to be read, in the _past_, and not in the _future_ tense. "For this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, for that when my master HATH GONE into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he HATH LEANED upon mine hand, that I also HAVE BOWED myself in the house of Rimmon; for m...

Rimmon is known to us as a god only by this passage. The name is connected with a root “to be high.” Hadad-rimmon Zechariah 12:11, the name of a place near Megiddo, points to the identity of Rimmon with Hadad, who is known to have been the Sun, the chief object of worship to the Syrians. WHEN HE LEANETH ON MINE HAND - The practice of a monarch’s “leaning on the hand” of an attendant was not common in the East (compare the marginal reference). It probably implied age or infirmity. THE LORD PARDON THY SERVANT IN THIS THING - Naaman was not prepared to offend his master, either by refusing to enter with him into the temple of Rimmon, or by remaining erect when the king bowed down and worshipped the god. His conscience seems to have told him that such conduct was not right; but he

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 5:1 THE CURE OF NAAMAN'S LEPROSY. HIS GRATITUDE; AND THE SIN OF GEHAZI, The historian continues his narrative of Elisha's miracles, commenced in 2 Kings 2:1; and gives in the present chapter a very graphic and complete account of two which were especially remarkable, and which stood in a peculiar relation the one towards the other. One was the removal of leprosy; the other, its infliction. One was wrought on a foreigner and a man of eminence; the other, on a Hebrew and a servant. The second was altogether consequential upon the first, without which the

IN THIS THING THE LORD PARDON THY SERVANT,.... Which he next mentions, and on account of which he desires the prayers of Elisha for him, as the Vulgate Latin version; or it may be, this is a prayer of his own, put up at this time to the true Jehovah, in whom he believed: THAT WHEN MY MASTER: meaning the king of Syria: 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; the house of Rimmon was a temple of an idol of that name; what idol it was is not easy to say; the Septuagint version calls it Remman, thought by some to be the same with Remphan, Acts 7:43, a name of Saturn, said to be given him from a Greek word, which signifies to "wander" q, he being placed among the wandering stars in the supreme heavens

4. NAAMAN AND HIS HEALING CHAPTER 5 _ 1. Naaman, the leper (2 Kings 5:1)_ 2. The testimony of the maid of Israel (2 Kings 5:2) 3. The message to the king of Israel (2 Kings 5:5) 4. Naaman and Elisha (2 Kings 5:9) 5. Gehazi; His sin and punishment (2 Kings 5:20) The story of this chapter is peculiarly rich in its spiritual and dispensational meaning. Naaman, captain of Ben-hadad, the King of Syria, was a Gentile. He was no common man. In all his greatness and might, with all the honors heaped upon him and wealth

NAAMAN HEALED OF HIS LEPROSY. This story, familiar to all, presupposes a time of peace between Israel and Syria. As in 1 Kings 20, the king of Syria addresses the king of Israel (unnamed here) as his vassal (2 Kings 5:6 ff.). Elisha was living in Samaria, apparently in his own house. Naaman, on being healed, returned to Elisha, who refused to take any present, using Elijah's formula (1 Kings 17:1 *). Naaman thereupon declared himself a worshipper of Yahweh (it is remarkable that 2 Kings 5:1 ascribes his victories to Yahweh), asking pardon if in his official capacity he bows himself before Rimmon (Ramman, the thunder-god of the Assyrians). Readers of _Tom Brown's Schooldays_ will remember the not unnatural discussion amongst th

SIMMON. The Assyrian storm-god Ramman. WORSHIP. bow down himself. leaneth. Compare 2Ki 7:2, 2 Kings 7:17. THE LORD PARDON. Jehovah pardon. Some codices add "I pray thee", but marked "to be cancelled"....

_the Lord pardon thy servant_ Naaman can see the inconsistency of his conduct. He will offer no more sacrifices to Rimmon. But the king his master worships in Rimmon's temple, and Naaman must be in attendance, and must bow when the king bows down, or he will give offence. He sets his difficulty before Elisha, and Elisha, regarding the degree of his faith and obedience as all that could be expected from his amount of light, gives him a comforting answer. We must judge both Naaman and the prophet according to the times in which they lived. It was impossible for the former at once to cast away all his old ideas. His strongest wish, for some of the soil of the holy land to carry home, bespeaks the darkness in which he had lived and was living, and a new creature is not to be made in a moment out of men like Naaman. Elisha on the other hand had no light such as we have concerning God's messag...