2 Kings 5:27

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

The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

And unto thy seed for ever, i.e. for some generations; or for a long time, as that word is oft used, and as may be thought by comparing this with 24:7. He went out from his presence; being confounded with the sense of his guilt, and shame, and misery, and banished from the company of others by God’ s law, Leviticus 13 Leviticus 14. A leper as white as snow; which is the worst kind of leprosy, and noted by physicians to be incurable. See ,20. Nor was this punishment too severe for Gehazi’ s wickedness, which was great and various; horrid covetousness, which is idolatry; the profanation of God’ s name by a wicked oath; downright theft; deliberate and impudent lying, and that to a prophet, which was in a manner a lying to the Holy Ghost, like theirs, ; a desperate contempt of God’ s omniscience, justice, and holiness; a horrible reproach fastened upon the prophet, and his religion; and a mischievous scandal given to Naaman and all other Syrians that might hear of it.

2 Kings 5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper [as white] as snow.Ver. 27. The leprosy therefore of Naaman.] As thou hast his money, so take his leprosy, a filthy disease for thy filthy lucre; a sad bequeath to thy children whom thou thoughtest to have raised for ever. Gain got by a lie will burn our fingers, burn in our purses, rot our estates, root out our posterity: it is like a bundle of plague clothes, &c. A leper as white as snow.] How much better to Gehazi had been a light purse and a homely coat, with a sound body and a clear soul! Peter Martyr compareth the Pope to Gehazi.

(27) Shall cleave.—Or, cleave! i.e., let it cleave. The prophetic sentence is naturally expressed as an imperative. A leper as white as snow.—Comp. Exodus 4:6 Numbers 12:10. A sudden outbreak of leprosy may follow upon extreme fright or mortification (Michaelis). Unto thy seed for ever.—Like other skin diseases, leprosy is hereditary. If it be thought that the sentence is too strong, it should be remembered that the prophet is really pronouncing inspired judgment upon the sin of Gehazi, and milder language might have produced erroneous impressions. Covetousness and lying are never spared in Scripture, and it is well for mankind that it is so. (Comp. Acts 5)

Verse 27. The leprosy of Naaman - shall cleave unto thee] Thou hast got much money, and thou shalt have much to do with it. Thou hast got Naaman's silver, and thou shalt have Naaman's leprosy. Gehazi is not the last who has got money in an unlawful way, and has got God's curse with it. A leper as white as snow.] The moment the curse was pronounced, that moment the signs of the leprosy began to appear. The white shining spot was the sign that the infection had taken place. See on Leviticus 13:2, and the notes at the end of that chapter. See Clarke on Leviticus 13:58. 1. SOME have thought, because of the prophet's curse, The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and thy seed for ever, that there are persons still alive who are this man's real descendants, and afflicted with this horrible disease. Mr. Maundrell when he was in Judea made diligent inquiry concerning this, but could not ascertain the truth of the supposition. To me it appears absurd; the denunciation took place in the posterity of Gehazi till it should become extinct, and under the influence of this disorder this must soon have taken place. The for ever implies as long as any of his posterity should remain. This is the import of the word לעולם leolam. It takes in the whole extent or duration of the thing to which it is applied. The for ever of Gehazi was till his posterity became extinct. 2. The god Rimmon, mentioned 2Kg 5:18, we meet with nowhere else in the Scriptures, unless it be the same which Stephen calls Remphan. See Acts 7:43, and the note there. Selden thinks that Rimmon is the same with Elion, a god of the Phoenicians, borrowed undoubtedly from the עליון Elion, the Most High, of the Hebrews, one of the names of the supreme God, which attribute became a god of the Phoenicians. Hesychius has the word Ῥαμας Ramas, which he translates ὁὑψιστοςΘεος, the Most High God, which agrees very well with the Hebrew רמון Rimmon, from רמה ramah, to make high or exalt. And all these agree with the sun, as being the highest or most exalted in what is called the solar system. Some think Saturn is intended, and others Venus. Much may be seen on this subject in Selden De Diis Syris. 3. Let us not suppose that the offence of Gehazi was too severely punished. 1) Look at the principle, covetousness. 2) Pride and vanity; he wished to become a great man. 3) His lying, in order to impose on Naaman: Behold even now there be come to me, c. 4) He in effect sells the cure of Naaman for so much money for if Naaman had not been cured, could he have pretended to ask the silver and raiment? 5) It was an act of theft; he applied that to his own use which Naaman gave him for his master.

27. The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee] ‘Oh heavy talents of Gehazi’, says Bishop Hall, ‘oh the horror of this one unchangeable suit … How much better had been a light purse and a homely coat, with a sound body and a clear soul’. a leper as white as snow] Both here and elsewhere in this phrase, the words ‘as white’ are inserted to explain the comparison. Cf. Numbers 12:10. As the incrustation of leprosy is sometimes rather rose-coloured than white, it seems likely that the point of the comparison is not the whiteness only, but that likeness which it bears to a light downlike covering, as if the limbs had been sprinkled over in the manner, though not always with the colour, of snow.

27. Unto thy seed forever — “Who can tell but that the victims of this horrid plague, now seen about the city [Samaria] and at Nablus, the present home of all the Samaritans, may be the heirs of this