(8.) The simple records of these domestic incidents amongst the sons of the prophets are now interrupted b}' an occurrence of a more important character (2 Kings V, 1-27). The chief captain of the army of Syria, to whom his country was indebted for some sig- nal success (the tradition of the Jews is that it was Naaman who killed Ahab, ilidrash Tehillim, p. 29 b, on Psa. Ixxviii), was afflicted with leprosy, and that in its most malignant form, the white variety (ver. 27). In Israel this would have disqualified him from all em- ployment and all intercourse (2 Kings xv, 5; 2 Chron. xxvi, 20, 21). But in Sjria no such practice appears to have prevailed ; Naaman Mas still a " great man with his master," "a man of countenance." One of the members of his establij^hment is an Israelitish girl, kidnapped by the marauders (C"''7^"li>) of Syria in one of their forays over the border, and she brings into that Syrian household the fame of the name and skill of Elisha. "The prophet in Samaria," who had raised the dead, would, if brought into the presence of (■;sl3) the patient, have no difliculty in curing even this dread- ful leprosy. The news is communicated by Naaman himself (X3''1, not " one told") to the king. Benhadad had yet to learn the position and character of Elisha. He writes to the king of Israel a letter very character- istic of a military prince, and curiously recalling words uttered by another military man in reference to the cure of his sick servant many centuries later — "I say to this one, go, and he goetb. and to my servant, do
ELISHA
156
ELISHA
this, and he doeth it." "And now" — so ran Benha- dad's letter after the nsual complinientar}' intro(hiction had probably opened the connminication — "and now, when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have sent Naanian, nu' slave, to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy." With this letter, and with a pres- ent, in which the rich fabrics ("i'^nb, i. q. a dress of ceremony) for which Damascus has always been in modern times so famous form a conspicuous feature, and with a full retinue of attendants (13, 15, 23), Naa- man proceeds to Samaria. The king of Israel— his name is not given, but it was probably Joram — is dis- mayed at the communication. He has but one idea, dotibtlcss the result of too freciuent experience— "Con- sider how this man seeketh a quarrel against me!" The occurrence soon reaches the ears of the prophet, and with a certain dignity he " sends" to the king — " Let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." To the house of Elisha Naanian goes with his whole cavalcade, the "horses and char- iot" of the Syrian general fixing themselves particu- larly in the mind of the chronicler. Elisha still keeps in the background, and while Naaman stands at the doorway, contents himself with sending out a messen- ger with the simple direction to bathe seven times in the Jordan. The independent behavior of the prophet, and the simplicity of the prescription — not only devoid of any ceremonial, but absolutely insulting to the na- tive of a cit}^ which boasted, as it still boasts, of the finest water-suppl}'^ of any city of the East, all com- bined to enrage Naaman. His slaves, however, knew how to deal with the quick but not ungenerous temper of their master, and the result is that he goes down to the Jordan and dips himself seven times, " and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." His first business after his cure is to thank his benefactor. He returns with his whole train ("ISH^, i. e. "host" or "camp"), and this time he will not be denied the presence of Elisha, but, making his way in, and standing before him, he gratefully acknowledges the power of the God of Israel, and entreats him to ac- cept the present which he had brought from Damas- cus. But Elisha is firm, and refuses the oft'er, though repeated with the strongest adjuration. Naaman, hav- ing adopted Jehovah as his God, begs to be allowed to take away some of the earth of his favored country, of which to make an altar. He then consults Elisha on a difficultv which he foresees. How is he, a servant of .Jehovah, to act when he accompanies the king to the temple of the Syrian god Eimmon ? He must bow be- fore the god; will Jehovah pardon this disloj'alty .' Elisha's answer is " Go in peace," and with this fare- well tlie caravan moves off^. But Gehazi, the attend- ant of Elisha, cannot allow such treasures thus to es- cape him. "As Jehovah liveth"- — an expression, in the lips of this vulgar Israelite, exactly equivalent to the oft-repeated Widlah — "by God" — of the modern Arabs, " I will run after this Sj-rian and take somewhat of him." So he frames a story hy which the generous Naaman is made to send back with him to Elisha's house a consideraUe present in money and clothes. Ho then went in and stood before his master as if noth- ing had happened. But the proi)het was not to be so de- ceiv;'cl. His heart had gone after his servant through the wliole transaction, even to its minutest dctiiils, and he visits Gehazi with the tremendous jiunislnnent of the leprosy, from which he has just relieved Naaman. The date of the transaction must have been at least seven years after the raising of the Shunammite's son. Tills is evident from a comjiarison of viii, 4 witii 1, 2, 3. Geliazi's familiar conversation with the king must have taken place before he was a leper. See Naaman. (!).) \W\ now return to the sons of the prophets, Init tliis time the scene appears to be,ehangcd, and is prob- ably at Jericho, and during the residence of Elisha there. "Whether from the increase of the scholars con-