CHAPTER V _The history of Naaman, captain of the host of the king of_ _Syria, a leper; who was informed by a little Israelitish_ _captive maid that a prophet of the Lord, in Samaria, could_ _cure him_, 1-4. _The king of Syria sends him, with a letter and rich presents,_ _to the king of Israel,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:2. _THE SYRIANS HAD GONE OUT BY COMPANIES_] גדודים _gedudim,_ _troops_. When _one hundred_ or _two hundred_ men go out by themselves to make prey of whatever they can get, that is called, says _Jarchi_, גדוד gedud, a troop. They had gone out in marauding parties; and on such occasion... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:3. _WOULD GOD MY LORD_] אחלי _achaley, I wish_; or, as the Chaldee, Syrian, and Arabic have, "_Happy would it be_ for my master if he were with the prophet," c. Here the mystery of the Divine providence begins to develop itself. By the captivity of this little maid, one Syrian famil... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:4. _THUS AND THUS SAID THE MAID_] So well had this little pious maid conducted herself, that her words are credited; and credited so fully, that an embassy from the king of Syria to the king of Israel is founded upon them!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:5. _THE KING OF SYRIA SAID_] He judged it the best mode of proceeding to send immediately to the _king_, under whose control he supposed the prophet must be, that he would order the prophet to cure his general. _TEN TALENTS OF SILVER_] This, at _£_353 11_s_. 10 1/2_d_. the talent, w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:7. _AM I GOD, TO KILL AND TO MAKE ALIVE_] He spoke thus under the conviction that God alone could cure the leprosy; which, indeed, was universally acknowledged: and must have been as much a maxim among the Syrians as among the Israelites, for the disorder was equally prevalent in bot... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:8. _LET HIM COME NOW TO ME_] Do not be afflicted; the matter belongs to me, as the prophet of the Most High; send him to me, and he shall know that I am such.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:9. _CAME WITH HIS HORSES AND WITH HIS CHARIOT_] In very great pomp and state. Closely inspected, this was preposterous enough; a _leper_ sitting in state, and affecting it!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:10. _SENT A MESSENGER_] Did not come out to speak with him: he had got his orders from God, and he transmitted them to Naaman by his servant. _WASH IN JORDAN SEVEN TIMES_] The waters of Jordan had no tendency to remove this disorder but God chose to make them the means by which he _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:11. _NAAMAN WAS WROTH_] And why? Because the prophet treated him without ceremony; and because he appointed him an expenseless and simple mode of cure. _BEHOLD, I THOUGHT_] God's ways are not as our ways; he appoints that mode of cure which he knows to be best. Naaman expected to be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:12. _ARE NOT ABANA AND PHARPAR_] At present these rivers do not exist by these names; and where they are we know not; nor whether they were the _Orontes_ and _Chrysorroes_. Mr. Maundrell, who travelled over all this ground, could find no vestige of the names _Abana_ and _Pharpar_. T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:13. _MY FATHER_] A title of the highest respect and affection. _HAD BID THEE_ DO SOME _GREAT THING_] If the prophet had appointed thee to do something very _difficult_ in itself, and very _expensive_ to thee, wouldst thou not have done it? With much greater reason shouldst thou do w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:14. _THEN WENT HE DOWN_] He felt the force of this reasoning, and made a trial, probably expecting little success. _LIKE UNTO THE FLESH OF A LITTLE CHILD_] The loathsome scurf was now entirely removed; his flesh assumed the appearance and health of youth; and the whole mass of his b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:15. _HE RETURNED TO THE MAN OF GOD_] He saw that the hand of the Lord was upon him; he felt gratitude for his cleansing; and came back to acknowledge, in the most public way, his obligation to God and his servant. _STOOD BEFORE HIM_] He was now truly humbled, and left all his state... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:16. _I WILL RECEIVE NONE._] It was very common to give presents to all great and official men; and among these, _prophets_ were always included: but as it might have appeared to the Syrians that he had taken the offered presents as a remuneration for the cure performed, he refused; f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:17. _SHALL THERE NOT THEN, I PRAY THEE_] This verse is understood two different ways. I will give them both in a paraphrase: - 1. _Shall there not then be given unto thy servant_ [viz., Naaman] _two mules' burden of_ this Israelitish _earth_, that I may build an altar with it, on wh... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:19. _AND HE SAID UNTO HIM_] There is a most singular and important reading in one of De Rossi's MSS., which he numbers 191. It has in the margin לא ק that is, "read לא _lo, not_, instead of לו _lo, to him_." Now this reading supposes that Naaman _did_ ask permission from the prophet... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:20. _MY MASTER HATH SPARED - THIS SYRIAN_] He has neither taken any thing from him for himself, nor permitted him to give any thing to me.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:21. _HE LIGHTED DOWN FROM THE CHARIOT_] He treats even the prophet's servant with the profoundest respect, alights from his chariot, and goes to meet him. _IS ALL WELL?_] השלום _hashalom; Is it peace_, or _prosperity_?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:22. _AND HE SAID_] שלום _shalom_. _It is peace; all is_ _right_. This was a common mode of address and answer. _THERE BE COME TO ME FROM MOUNT EPHRAIM_] There was probably a school of the prophets at this mount.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:23. _HE - BOUND TWO TALENTS OF SILVER_] It required two servants to carry these two talents, for, according to the computation above, each talent was about 120lbs. weight.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:24. _WHEN HE CAME TO THE TOWER_] The Chaldee, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic understand the word עפל _ophel_, which we translate _tower_, as signifying a _secret, dark_, or _hiding place_. He was doing a deed of darkness, and he sought darkness to conceal it. He no doubt put them in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:26. _WENT NOT MINE HEART_ WITH THEE] The _Chaldee_ gives this a good turn: _By the prophetic spirit it was shown unto me, when_ _the man returned from his chariot to meet thee_. Is it _A TIME TO RECEIVE MONEY_] He gave him farther proof of this all-discerning prophetic spirit in tel... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 5:27. _THE LEPROSY OF NAAMAN - SHALL CLEAVE UNTO THEE_] Thou hast got much money, and thou shalt have much to do with it. Thou hast got Naaman's silver, and thou shalt have Naaman's leprosy. Gehazi is not the last who has got money in an unlawful way, and has got God's curse with it.... [ Continue Reading ]