Naaman Healed of Leprosy #35

Naaman, commander of the army of Aram (Syria), is a great and honored man who suffers from leprosy. His story in 2 Kings 5 recounts how a captive Israelite girl, a king’s letter, and a prophet’s simple instruction bring him to the Jordan River, where he is healed and comes to acknowledge the God of Israel. It is one of the best-known miracles of the prophet Elisha.

The Account

A young Israelite girl, taken captive in a raid and serving Naaman’s wife, tells her mistress that there is a prophet in Samaria who could cure her master (2 Kings 5:2-3). The king of Aram sends Naaman to the king of Israel with a letter, along with silver, gold, and garments. The king of Israel tears his clothes, taking the request as an impossible demand and perhaps a pretext for war (2 Kings 5:5-7). Elisha hears of it and asks that Naaman be sent to him.

Naaman arrives with his horses and chariots at Elisha’s door, but Elisha does not come out. He sends a messenger telling Naaman to wash in the Jordan seven times (2 Kings 5:9-10). Naaman is furious at the lack of ceremony and protests that the rivers of Damascus are better than any water in Israel. His servants reason with him: if the prophet had asked for something difficult, he would have done it, so why not do something simple? Naaman goes down and dips seven times, and his flesh is restored like that of a young boy, and he is clean (2 Kings 5:11-14).

Naaman returns to Elisha and declares, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.” (2 Kings 5:15). Elisha refuses any gift. Naaman asks for two mule-loads of earth to take home, promising to worship only the Lord, and asks to be pardoned when his duties require him to bow in the temple of Rimmon. Elisha answers, “Go in peace” (2 Kings 5:17-19). The chapter closes with a warning: Elisha’s servant Gehazi secretly takes money from Naaman and is struck with Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5:20-27).

Setting and Context

The story takes place during the ministry of Elisha, the successor of Elijah, in the northern kingdom of Israel, when Aram was a frequent rival. The Hebrew word often translated leprosy covers a range of skin diseases and is not necessarily the same as modern Hansen’s disease. Under the Law of Moses, people with such conditions were ritually unclean and had to live outside the camp (Leviticus 13:45-46), which explains why Naaman’s cure is described as being made clean.

What It Reveals

The chapter shows that God’s mercy extends beyond Israel to a foreign military leader, a point Jesus later uses in his sermon at Nazareth: there were many lepers in Israel in Elisha’s time, yet none was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:27). The story also contrasts pride and humility. Naaman is healed only when he stops demanding a dramatic ritual and accepts the plain instruction, and Gehazi’s greed shows the danger of treating God’s gifts as a source of profit. Christian traditions have often read the seven dips in the Jordan as a foreshadowing of baptism, while others see the primary lesson as obedience to God’s word despite one’s expectations.