5 » Either,in deteftation of his Blaſphemy in giving God s PerfeQi- ons to him: or rather,for Grief,arifing from a ſuſpicion & fear that the Syrian made this only a pretence for the War which he deſign- ed againſt him. o He expreſleth it thus, becauſe Leprofie 1s a kind or degree of Death, Numb. 12. 12- and he thought it as impoſſible to Cure it, as to raiſe the Dead, p For not doing what he requires, which he knows impoſlible for me to do.
8 And it was /s, whenElitha the man of God q had heard, that the king of Iſrael had rent his clothes, that he ſent to the king,faying, Wherefore haſt chou rene thy clothes r ? Let him come now to me,and he ſhall know
Land this was taken.
that there is a prophet in Iſrael.
g Whom Jiram had not adviſed with, either, becauſe the ſudden ſurprizal made him forget it : or, becauſe he hated him, and ſcor- ned to beg any thing from: him, e There was no juſt occaſion for thee to do ſo. BY. : : .
9 So Naaman came with his horſes,8 with his cha-
riot, and ſtood at the door of the houſe of Eliſha /. ſ Waiting for Eljah's coming to him. : io And E:iſha ſent a meſſenger unto him ?, ſaying,
. Go, and waſh in Jordan ſeven times, and thy fleſh ſhall
come again « unto thee, aud | thou ſhalt be clean.
# Which he did, partly,to try and exerciſe Na#mar's Faith & Obe- dience ; partly,for the Honour of his Religion and Miniftry,that it might appear he ſought not his own Glory & Profit in his mira- culous Performances, but only God's Honour,and the Good of Men: and partly, for the diſcovery of the Almighty Power of God, that could by ſuch ſlight means cure ſo deſperate a Diſeaſe. u Which was in great part conſumed by the Leprolie. See Numb. 12.12.
11 But Naaman was wroth x, and went away, and
+Heb.ſaid ſaid, Behold, I + thought y, he will ſurely come out to or, # ſaid te, and ſtand, and call on the Name of the LORD his
fir. #7 God, and | ſtrike his hand over the place z, and reco- | it jure Ver the leper. come out. 3 Suppoſing himſelf deſpiſed and mocked by the Prophet. y Here- + Heb, in he gives an Example of the perverſceneſs of Mankind, who are move #p apt to prefer their own Fancies before Gods Appointments. z Over and dewn. or upon the affeed part where the Leproſie 1s ; without which it ſeemed to him ridiculous to expeCt a Cure. + Heb. 12 Are not | Abana and Pharpar,rivers of Damaſcus, mans, better than all the waters of Iſrael ? May I not waſh in them, and be clean a? So he turned and went away in a rage.
@ Is there not as great a virtue in them to this purpoſe ? But he ſhou'd have conſidered, that the Cure was not to be wrought by the Water, but by the Power of God, who might uſe what means and methods of Cure he pleaſed.
x3 And his ſervants came near, and ſpake unto him, and ſaid,. My father 6b, if the prophet had bit thee do ſome great thing,wouldeſt thou not have done ir ? how much rather then, when he ſaith to chee, Waſh and be Cican £ & Or. our father. So they call him, both to ſhew their Reverence and Affettion to him, and to mitigate his exaſperated Mind. 14 'ihen went he down, and dipped himſelf feven times in Jordan, according to the ſaying of the man of God: and his fleſh came again like unto the fleſh of a 2Luke little child c, and * he was clean. | 4; 27, c i e. Freſh and pure,free from the leaſt mixture or mark of the
Diſeaſe.
15 © And he returned to the man of God 4,he and all his company, and came and ſtood before him : and he ſaid, Behold, now I-know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Iſrael e : now therefore, I pray thee, take a blefling f of thy ſervant.
d To give him thanks,and a recompence for his great kindneſs e By this wonderful Work Iam fully convinced, that the God of
Iſreel is the only True God, and that other gods are but impotent Idols. f A thankful acknowledgment. See on Gev. 33s 11.
16 But he faid, As the LORD liveth before whom I ſtand,I will receive none : and he urged him to. take zz, buc he refuſed g.
g Not that he thought it ſimply unlawful to receive Gifts or Preſents, which he did receive from others,chap:4. 42: but becauſe of the _ circumſtances of the preſent caſe ; this being much for the Honour of the True God and Religion, that the Syrians ſhould ſee the generous Piety, and Charity, and Kindneſs of his Miniſters and Servants,and how much they deſpiſed all that worldly Wealth and Glory, which the Prieſts os prophets of the Gentiles ſo greedi- ly ſought after ; and that hereby Naaman might be much confirm- ed in that good Religion which he had embraced,and others mighr be brought to a love and liking of it.
17 And Naaman faid, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy ſervant two mules burden of earth b ? for thy ſervant will henceforth offer neither
| burnt-offering, nor ſacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.
x bh Wherewith I may make an Altar of Earth, as was uſual, Exog
120+ 24: kie defires the Earth of this Land, becauſe he though it
»
I N G Ss.
more holy and acceptable to God, and proper for his Service ; or,
becauſe he would by this Token profeſs and declare his Conjun&ti. on with the 1/raelites in the Worſhip of God, and conſtantly pur himſelf in mind of his great Obligations to that God from whote
And though he might freely have taken this Earth without asking any leave, yer he rarher defires it from the Prophets Gift, as believing that he who had put ſo great a Vertue into the Waters of ſra?!,could put as much into the Earth of 1-ael, and make it as uſeful and beneficial ro him in a better way. And theſe thoughts, though extravagant and groundleſs, yet were ex. cuſable in a Heathen, and a Novice, who was not yet throughly inſtrued in the True Religion,
18 In this thing the LORD || pardon thy ſervant, that when my maſter goeth into the houſe of Rimmon 3;
bow my {elf in the houſe of Rimmon: when I bow down my ſelf in the houſe of Rimmon 7, the LORD
pardon thy ſervant in this thing »s.
; A Sjrian [do], called here by the LXX Remman, and AS: 7:45 ; Remphm, k Or, arm, as that word ſomerimes ſignifics, both in Scripture and others Authors ; or, ſbu/der. Upon which, the King leaned, either for ſtate, or for ſupport, Compare chap. 7.2. | Nor in honour to the Idol, which I do here, and ſhall there, openly re. nounce ; but only in compliance with the King's infirmity and con.
; veniency, who cannot well bow if I ſtand upright. » Becauſe