2 Kings 5:17
Ver. 17. And Naaman said, shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth..... Not that he desired of Elisha that he would suffer his servant Gehazi to receive a present as much as two mules could carry; but inasmuch as the prophet refused a present from him, his servant, he asks a favour of him, that he would permit him to take with him, out of the land of Israel, as much earth two mules could carry, that is, to make an altar of earth, as the next words indicate: but as he might have this any where without the prophet's leave, some Jewish writers {o} think he requested it from his own house, and from the place his feet trod on, as conceiving in a superstitious way that there was a sort of holiness in it; or however, that wheresoever he had it, if with the prophet's leave, a blessing would go with it, or that would be a sort of a consecration of it; and having an altar made of the earth of this land, would show that he was in the faith of the same God, and performed the same worship to him Israel did:
for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord: hence the Jews say, he became a proselyte of righteousness {p}, embraced the true religion, and the worship of the true God, according to the laws given to Israel; and the following words, rightly understood, confirm the same.{o} Ben Gersom & Abarbinel in loc. {p} Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 2. 2 Kings 5:18Ver. 18. 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, Ac 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; which is not likely, for the word is certainly of a Syriac signification, and comes either from Mwr, which signifies "high", and so the same with Elioun, the Phoenician deity, called the most high {r}; or, as "Rimmon" is used for a pomegranate, this is thought to design the Syrian goddess, to whom this sort of fruit was sacred; or Juno, whose statue, in her temple at Mycenas {s}, had a pomegranate in one hand; or rather this Rimmon was Jupiter Cassius, so called from Mount Cassius, which divided Syria from Egypt, who is painted with his hand stretched out, and a pomegranate in it {t}; and may be the same with Caphtor, the father of the Caphtorim, Ge 10:14 who might be deified after his death, their names, Rimmon and Caphtor, being of the same signification {u}. But be this deity as it may, it was worshipped by the Syrians; and when the king of Syria went in to worship, he used to lean upon the hand of one of his officers, either being lame, or for state sake, in which office Naaman was; and his request to the prophet, or to the Lord, is, not for pardon for a sin to be committed; nor to be indulged in his continuance of it; not to worship the idol along with his master; nor to dissemble the worship of it, when he really worshipped it not; nor to be excused any evil in the discharge of his post and office; but for the pardon of the sin of idolatry he had been guilty of, of which he was truly sensible, now sincerely acknowledges, and desires forgiveness of; and so Dr. Lightfoot {w}, and some others {x}, interpret it; and to this sense the words may be rendered,when my master went in to the house of Rimmon to worship there; which was his usual custom; and he leaned on my hand, which was the common form in which he was introduced into it:and I worshipped in the house of Rimmon, as his master did, for the same word is used here as before;in as much, or seeing I have worshipped in the house of Rimmon, have been guilty of such gross idolatry:the Lord, I pray, forgive thy servant in this thing; the language of a true penitent.{q} A rembesyai "vagari", Hesychius. {r} Vid. Selden. de Dis Syris Syntagm. 2. c. 10. {s} Pausan. Corinthiac. sive, l. 2. p. 114. {t} Achilles Tatius, l. 3. Vid. Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 2. p. 934. {u} See Clayton's Origin of Hieroglyphics, p. 113. {w} Works, vol. 1. p. 86. {x} Vid. Quenstedt. Dissert. de. Petit. Naaman. sect. 21, 22. 2 Kings 5:19Ver. 19. And he said unto him,.... That is, the prophet said to Naaman:go in peace: in peace of mind; be assured that God has pardoned this and all other transgressions:so he departed from him a little way; about a mile, as the Targum, and so other Jewish writers; of this phrase, See Gill on "Ge 35:16", some say a land's length, that is, about one hundred and twenty feet; rather it was a thousand cubits, or half a mile. 2 Kings 5:20Ver. 20. But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God said,.... Within himself, observing what had passed:behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: he speaks contemptibly of Naaman, as an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and reproaches his master for letting him go free, without paying for his cure; when he thought he should have taken what he brought and offered, and given it to needy Israelites, and especially to the sons of the prophets, that wanted it; and perhaps it mostly disturbed him, that he had no share of it himself:but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him; the word for "somewhat", wanting a letter usually in it, is what is sometimes used for a blot; and Jarchi observes, that Gehazi taking something from Naaman, was a blot unto him, and indeed such an one that he could not wipe off. 2 Kings 5:21Ver. 21. So Gehazi followed after Naaman,.... As fast as he could:and when Naaman saw him running after him; which he might observe, looking back, or be informed of by some of his servants:he lighted down from the chariot to meet him; in honour to the prophet, whose servant he was:and said, is all well? fearing something ill had befallen Elisha; or he himself had done something wrong, which occasioned the servant to run after him. 2 Kings 5:22Ver. 22. And he said, all is well,.... He need give himself no uneasiness at the coming and sight of him:my master hath sent me, saying, behold, even now there be come to me; just then, since he departed from him:from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: where perhaps was a school of them:give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments: which, as it was a downright lie, so highly improbable that Elisha should ask so large a sum of money, with two changes of raiment, for two young scholars, see 2Ki 5:5 and which Naaman, with a little reflection, might have seen through; but his heart was so filled with gratitude for the benefit received, that he was glad of an opportunity, at any rate, of showing respect to the prophet. 2 Kings 5:23Ver. 23. And Naaman said, be content,.... Or be pleased; do not object to it:take two talents: a talent for each young man, which amounted to between three hundred and four hundred pounds apiece:and he urged; pressed him hard, insisted upon his taking them, who might pretend a great deal of modesty, and a strict regard to his master's orders:and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments; for each young man:and laid them upon two of his servants, the servants of Naaman, not choosing to burden Elisha's servant with them; for such a quantity of money and clothes was pretty heavy:and they bare [them] before him; both for his ease, and for his honour. 2 Kings 5:24Ver. 24. And when he came to the tower,.... Of Samaria, or which was near it; a fortified place, and where was a watch, to whom he could safely commit the money and clothes:he took them from their hand; not willing they should go any further with him, lest the affair should be discovered to his master:and bestowed [them] in the house; deposited them there in the hands of some person whom he could trust; or laid them out, or ordered them to be laid out, in the purchase of houses, lands, vineyards, &c. see 2Ki 5:26and he let the men go, and they departed; to their master. 2 Kings 5:25Ver. 25. But he went in, and stood before his master,.... To know his will, and minister to him, as he had used to do, and as if he had never been from the house:and Elisha said unto him, whence comest thou, Gehazi? where had he been, and where was he last?and he said, thy servant went no whither; he pretended he had never been out of doors, which was another impudent lie; one would have thought that he who had lived so long with the prophet, and had seen the miracles wrought by him, and knew with what a spirit of prophecy he was endowed, would never have ventured to tell such an untruth, since he might expect to be detected; but covetousness had blinded his eyes and hardened his heart. 2 Kings 5:26Ver. 26. And he said unto him, went not mine heart with thee?.... Did my heart or knowledge go from me, that what thou hast done should be hid from me? so Ben Gersom and others; or my heart did not go with thee, it was contrary to my mind and will what thou didst; so Abendana; or rather, as the Targum, by a spirit of prophecy it was shown unto me, &c. I knew full well what thou wentest for, and hast done; and so Maimonides {y}; was not I employed in my thoughts? or, did I not think that so it was as thou hast done? I did:when the man turned again from chariot to meet thee? meaning Naaman the Syrian:is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments: as Gehazi had now done:and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? that is, to purchase those with the two talents of silver he had received, as he thought in his heart, or intended to do, as the Targum; or had given orders to purchase such for him to the persons to whom he had committed the care of them in the tower; this was not a proper time, when the honour of the prophet, and the credit of religion, and the good of this man, as a new proselyte, were in danger thereby.{y} Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 39. 2 Kings 5:27Ver. 27. The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever,.... As long as any of his race remained; as through his covetousness he had his money, so for his punishment he should have his disease:and he went out from his presence; as one ashamed and confounded, and discharged from his master's service:a leper [as white] as snow; a leprosy of which colour is the worst, and is incurable.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.