Naaman Is Healed of Leprosy

2 Kings 5

Though it is difficult to discern exactly when the various stories of Elijah and Elisha took place, all of them occurred during an era of Aramean strength, roughly spanning the ninth century B.C. In this story, a man named Naaman, commander over the Aramean army, suffered from leprosy, and a captive Israelite girl in his household told him that a prophet in Samaria could cure him. Naaman received permission from the king of Aram to travel to Samaria, and the king sent a letter with Naaman, confirming that Naaman had come to be healed of his leprosy. Naaman arrived in Samaria and gave the letter to the king of Israel, but the king tore his clothes in anguish, because he believed this was impossible, and then the Arameans would attack him for his failure to cure Naaman. But Elisha heard about this and told the king to send Naaman to him. It is not clear whether Elisha was living in the city of Samaria at this time or in another place in the greater vicinity of Samaria such as Gilgal, where Elijah and Elisha appear to have led a school of prophets (2 Kings 2:1-2; 4:38). When Naaman arrived at Elisha’s house, Elisha simply sent a messenger to the door with instructions for Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman was initially incensed that Elisha did not come himself and instantly cure the leprosy, and he boasted that the rivers of Abana and Pharpar near Damascus were better than any of the rivers of Israel. He started to leave in anger, but his servants convinced him just to try this simple task. So Naaman went down to the Jordan River, perhaps near Jericho, and when he washed in the water he emerged with his skin free of leprosy. He returned to Elisha and declared that there is no god except the God of Israel. Naaman then offered Elisha a gift, but Elisha refused to accept it, so Naaman requested instead that he be allowed to take back two mule-loads of dirt to Aram so that he could offer sacrifices to the Lord. Naaman may have made this request because, in his pagan understanding of God, he believed that all gods were tied to a particular land or nation, so he needed to be on Israelite land to offer an acceptable sacrifice to the God of Israel. It appears that Elisha granted Naaman’s request and sent him on his way.