2 Kings 5

2. K. 5 : 1** Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given victory unto Syria : he was also a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid ; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria ! then would he recover him of his leprosy. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. And it was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God : and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, 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 : now therefore, I pray thee, take a present of thy servant. But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it ; but he refused. And Naaman said, If not, yet I pray thee let there be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth ; for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant ; when my master 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 myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing. And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought : as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw one running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets ; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his servants ; and they bare them before him. And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowed

25 them in the house : and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, 26 Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and menservants and 27 maidservants? 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.

THE historical continues his narrative of Elisha’s miracles, commenced in chap. 2, and gives in the present chapter a very graphic and complete account of two which were especially remarkable, and which stood in a peculiar relation the one toward the other. One was the removal of leprosy; the other its infliction. One was wrought on a foreigner and a man of eminence; the other on a Hebrew and a servant. The second was altogether consequential upon the first, without which the occasion for it would not have arisen. The two together must have greatly raised the reputation of the prophet, and have given him an influence beyond the borders of the land of Israel; at the same time extending the reputation of Jehovah as a great God through many of the surrounding nations. Hammond.

It is not only the doctrine of the New Testament, but of the Old as well, that the Lord is not the God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles (Rom. 3 : 29). When Abram was first called to be the father of the chosen race, who should be for a time the depositaries of Divine revelation and of the true religion, it was with explicit reference to the ultimate diffusion of these blessings and the salvation of the world (Gen. 12 : 3). The restriction was not with the view of excluding others from participation in the saving benefits granted to the seed of Abraham, but for their protection and perpetuation in the midst of prevailing idolatry and corruption, until such time as the barriers could be safely thrown down and the Church could assume the aggressive. Meanwhile, intimations were given, from time to time, to remind the Israelites that they were not the exclusive favorites of heaven, but that God’s grace was for the Gentiles likewise. Such an intimation is contained in Elijah’s abode with the widow in Zarephath rather than with any of the widows of Israel, and in Elisha’s cleansing the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian rather than that of any of the lepers in Israel, as we learn from our Lord’s reference to them in the synagogue of Nazareth at the outset of his ministry (Luke 4 : 25-27). W. H. G.

1. The station, condition, and character of Naaman. In the Syrian kingdom of Benhadad he held the highest military and civil office; in both relations standing next to the king himself. This position he had achieved by his own wisdom in counsel and valor in the field. Yet was he only an instrument in God’s hand, for it is added, “by him the Lord had given deliverance to Syria.” And herein is declared the grand truth that God is in all human history; that His sovereignty controls the course and issue of all events, alike among idolatrous nations as among His own chosen people. But with all his honorable distinction and great wealth, Naaman was a leper. He was afflicted, not with that severer form of the disease which produces a disgusting disfiguration and decay of the body, but with the milder type, which was known as the white leprosy. Yet its effects were sore enough to embitter his otherwise happy life, and to throw a shadow of sadness over the court and within his own household. The whole story shows a deep sympathy on the part of all associated with him, from the king his master to his lowest dependents. And this sympathy, together with the spirit he manifests in the incidents that follow, reveals much that is attractive and noble in the character of the man. They show that he was attached to his master and faithful to his interests; that he was kindly to his servants, ready to recognize their sympathy, to hear, to consider, and act upon their friendly suggestions; even to yield to their reasonable remonstrances when his pride of station and of opinion had been deeply wounded by Elisha’s dealing. And his nobleness of spirit is further shown in his grateful return and acknowledgments to the prophet after his restoration, and his spontaneous self-consecration to Jehovah. B.

1. By him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. From the history of Syria so far as it is referred to in the books of the Kings, we should find no clew to this allusion to national perils. Syria had recently been victorious over the combined armies of Israel and Judah at Ramoth-Gilead. But all is explained by the recently discovered Assyrian monuments. There we find that Asshur-idannipal had, a few years previously, overrun the whole of Northern Syria—then Hittite—and had received the submission of Tyre and Sidon. But as regards Phœnicia and Syria at least, the conquest was not permanent. As soon as he had retired, Damascus threw off the yoke; and when his son, Shalmaneser II., succeeded him, n.c. 859, Syria paid no tribute. In the seventh year, and again in the eleventh year of his reign, Shalmaneser tells us he led his armies against Benhadad of Damascus, and defeated him; but in neither case does he claim to have carried off any trophies, imposed tribute or received submission. We may, therefore, safely infer that the Syrian resistance had been successful. These campaigns occurred in the beginning of the reign of Jehoram of Israel, and it is evident that Naaman had been the successful general who repelled the invader and gave deliverance to Syria. Surely this illustration well deserves a place among the undesigned coincidences which set forth the historical accuracy of Old Testament history. Tristram.

2-4. The captive maid’s sympathy reported to Naaman and to the king.** Syria had long been a rod in God’s hand for the chastening of Israel. Over the common border of the two kingdoms frequent inroads were made by marauding bands of Syrians. In one of these raids this Israelitish girl had been taken from her—possibly desolated—home. But from that home she had borne with her the blessed results of a godly training. Her faith in God had taught her tenderness in behalf of the afflicted. Even to those who had wrought her evil, she would return only good. Knowing Elisha’s power with God, and trusting in God’s willingness to heal and bless, her heart constrains her to utter the simple fervent desire that her lord would seek the prophet’s help. (Thus incidentally we learn that Elisha’s prophetic character was generally known, and the influence of his teachings widely felt in Israel.) And child and captive though she was, her devout and helpful spirit won its way into the heart and faith of her mistress. The words that thus awakened hope in the wife were speedily reported to Naaman, and by him to the king. So much of faith and hope was aroused in both as to lead to instant preparation for testing the prophet’s power. B.

The little maid who waited on Naaman’s wife was a lily among thorns—a transplanted rose, beautiful and fragrant, in a foreign garden. Her harp was not broken by the rough hand of captivity; nor was it hung on the willows. She could sing the Lord’s song, the song of peace and goodwill to men, in a strange land. She was kind to those who had been unkind to her; she overcame evil with good. It gave her no pleasure that the captain whose soldiers had stolen her away from the land of the Hebrews was thus deeply afflicted. She desired his relief. As she knew no country more blessed than her own, and no person there more renowned than Elisha, she recommended that he journey to that good land, and make the acquaintance of that remarkable man. And thus was she true to the injunction of the Lord to her nation, to seek the good of those countries whither they were carried captive. She was a spirit of peace in a warrior’s palace—a living leaf of mercy scattered among the Gentiles. Charity, seeking not its own, burned in her heart; and her tongue was moved by it to speak words kind as the oil on Aaron, and sweet as the morning dew. “Would to God, my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria; for he would recover him of his leprosy.” All that a man hath will he give for his life. The trumpet of fame and the plaudits of the multitude are unheeded in the sick chamber; while the voice of a child proposing a remedy is listened to with delight. R. T.

5-7. Naaman’s journey, and reception by Jehoram, king of Israel.** A royal letter-missive is prepared for Jehoram, and munificent gifts as a fitting return for the hoped-for restoration. Both the character of the letter and the proposed gifts seem to imply the heathen king’s impression that Elisha was a superior magician or conjurer at the court and under the direction of Jehoram, to whom the matter of the cure would of course be referred. For no idea had either Benhadad or Naaman of a God who would gratuitously grant so great a blessing as this. And the professed wonder-workers of that day, as ever since, were wont to demand enormous rewards for their services. In Jehoram’s exclamation (upon reading the letter of the Syrian king) is implied an acknowledgment of Jehovah as the only true God. He knew that leprosy was incurable save by Divine power. Further, he acknowledges that he himself had no claim or means or hope of the interposition of that power. There may also have been a tacit conviction of blasphemy in the request of Benhadad. But his is not the devout heart to be horrified at the thought of such blasphemy. What filled his selfish soul with alarm and suspicion was the belief that the Syrian king was only seeking a fresh occasion of quarrel with himself and his people. In his fear, too, as in his previous prosperity, he forgot the existence of the prophet who had already delivered his father (Ahab) and himself from this same Syrian power.

But God interposes at this juncture by Elisha’s message to the troubled king. The tone of reproof and command that appears in the message recalls the similar tone of Elijah to Ahab. Here again the sovereign was summoned to do the bidding of the subject, and in this case not by the prophet himself, but by his servant. But in assuming this commanding tone, both prophets were inspired with the same spirit of jealousy for the Lord of Hosts. Both were animated with the same purpose of showing that there was still a God in Israel. And this purpose was achieved in the case before us, as it had been with Elijah. “None but God,” Jehoram had said, “can make alive (or) recover a man of his leprosy;” and confirming this declaration by the after miracle wrought at the prophet’s word, God reveals Himself afresh to Jehoram; impressing anew upon his own and his people’s heart the old lesson that He alone is God, the God of Israel!

9, 10. Naaman’s reception and treatment by Elisha. At the prophet’s summons, he goes with his splendid retinue from the king’s palace to Elisha’s lowly abode. But the prophet neither asks him to enter, nor goes forth to receive him. He only sends him a simple message by a servant. As the prophet of Jehovah, Elisha thus supports the character and dignity of that God who is no respecter of persons. He corrects the ignorant notions of Naaman, gathered from the familiar methods of the heathen enchanters. Unlike these magical pretenders, Elisha keeps himself in the background. He honors God by putting the issue upon His working, while he demands the use of means by Naaman. Thus he excites and exercises the faith, and tests the obedience of the princely leper. He brings distinctly into view and so exalts the sole agency of Jehovah; and he elicits Naaman’s acknowledgment of that agency. He strikes effectually, yet not in a way of provocation, at the pride and self-will of Naaman. And thus he helps the cure of the inward leprosy of soul, as well as the outward bodily disease. For all these reasons, Elisha sends by his servant’s mouth the simple direction, “Go, wash seven times in Jordan!” B.

Jehoram may despair, but Elisha is confident. His message to his king (verse 8) has a noble ring of assured power and consciousness of his prophetic dignity. “Let him come now to me,” as befits a suitor. The great end of miracle is clearly put in “he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” That was not self-assertion, from which the gentle nature of Elisha was wholly free, but upholding the honor of his office, and, therein, of Him who had appointed him to it. The picture of the long train of Naaman’s attendants, and especially of horses and chariots drawn up at Elisha’s humble door, has stamped itself on the writer’s mind, as well it might. Here is the dreaded soldier, who wielded the power that had often made Israel tremble, sitting, a humble suppliant, outside the prophet’s house. The prophet stays indoors, because he has nothing to do with the cure but to proclaim how to obtain it. He is only a voice. His personality disappears. He brings the sick man into the presence of the true physician’s prescription, and there leaves him. So our sense-bound nature is always ready to fly to forms and sacraments and outward means, administered by priests, as the vehicles of forgiveness and cleansing. But God’s messenger has no such function. He has simply to proclaim the conditions of cure. A. M.

Wash in Jordan. He was told to do this particular thing because of its symbolic significance. Leprosy was defilement; washing was the symbol of cleansing and purification. And the river Jordan in the Lord’s land represented a cleansing by His immediate agency. Seven times, both from its significance as the number of perfection and because the repetition afforded a further test of Naaman’s faith. The cure was not effected until the number was complete. If he had dipped himself six times, and gone away, he would have experienced no cure. W. H. G.

11, 12. Naaman’s impulsive angry words. His wrath was natural. His “thought,” that is, the method of Elisha’s acting which he had counted on, was utterly disappointed. No respect was shown to his person and rank. No public ceremony in the presence of his retinue; no incantations or prayers; no magical touching of the prophet’s hand; no instant marvellous effect. All this was in his thought. Instead of all this display in compliment to his state and in gratification of his vanity, only a message by a servant. With his unchanged human nature, he could not but go “away in a rage.” The proud Syrian altogether overlooked the relative position of Elisha and himself in reference to the desired cure. He forgot that the method of cure should properly originate with the agent of the cure, who would best know what under God would effect the cure. And he did not then consider that the cure consisted not in the washing, much less in the waters of any river, but in the power of God, exerted in connection with His own pre- scription. Not in the means, but in their Divine authorization, together with the obedience which accepted and used them. All this he afterward gratefully acknowledged.

Apart from his national pride in the rivers of Damascus, his high estimate was fully justified by their superior beauty, breadth, and clearness. “The Abana is no doubt the modern Barada, which rises in the tableland some twenty-three miles from Damascus, and flows through the city in seven beautiful streams. The Pharpar passes a little below the city.” The Jordan’s turbid waters bore no comparison with these magnificent streams, supplied, as they were, so abundantly by the extended and lofty ranges of Anti-Lebanus. But the Jordan was in a peculiar sense the river of God, and had been oft hallowed by His marvellous presence in Israel’s history. There was a fitness, therefore, in the direction of the prophet. This also Naaman afterward learned. B.

11. He will surely come out to me.** This was the tribute which Naaman expected to be paid to his rank. To this day, in the East, the exact mode of meeting and receiving a guest is one of the most important parts of social etiquette. The host is naturally seated on a cushion, carpet or mat, exactly in centre of the side of the room opposite to the door, on the raised dais which is generally to be found in an Eastern hall or guest-chamber. If the visitor be of inferior rank, the host remains seated, while the other advances, making a salaam or obeisance at each step, the form of which differs according as he is a slave, a freeman, a messenger, a suppliant or a trader. If he be of equal or nearly equal rank, the master rises, and makes a step or several steps forward. And, as I have often experienced, in exact proportion to the number of his paces is the amount of consideration shown to the guest. If an inferior is honored by the visit of a superior, all propriety demands that he should at once come forward and meet his visitor before or outside his door. But Elisha would humble the pride of Naaman. Tristram.

Elisha’s conduct may serve as an illustration of one characteristic of God’s great message of healing for the world. The Gospel puts us all on one level, and treats us all in the same fashion. Naaman wanted to be dealt with as a great man who happened to be a leper; Elisha served him as a leper who happened to be a great man. So Christianity brushes aside all surface distinctions, and goes down to the deeply identities of character and need. We have to be content to be dealt with, not as culcultivated, educated, refined, distinguished people, but as sinners; for we are all alike in that. But many of us dislike this, and want to be cured indeed, but with proper deference. Naaman has plenty of successors living yet, who prefer not to be saved from their sins, because the way is offensive to their self-esteem. But that impartial treatment of all is the glory of the Gospel, and is the precursor of as universal a healing. “God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.” . . . Let me put it into plain English. Whether do you think it matters most in your relation to God—yours and mine—that we are sinners, or that we are cultivated people? Whether do you think it matters most that our hearts have started aside from Him and our hands have done evil, or that we can read Latin and Greek books and are scholars? Whether do you think it matters most that we have broken God’s commandments, or that we have made a quantity of money, and live in fine houses, and take a position before our fellows? Are we going to stand upon our miserable, tiny mola-hills beneath those solemn stars far above us and say: “Their light ought to fall upon us in another fashion from what it does on those people that live a little lower down”? I am a rich man. Come out and strike thy hand over the place. I have got a cultivated taste, a highly polished intellect. I must have another gospel from the vulgar crowd. I am a man of position and fame. I am not going to be treated like that poor old woman in her garret, like that soul struggling with insanity, like that little child, like that barbarian just dragged out of cannibalism and savagery. There must be something special for me! There is something for you. If the distinctions on which you pride yourselves are worth anything, they will help you to apprehend and profit by God’s gift. But the gift is one. You must be content to sit at the public table, to make one of the thousands on the grass there, fed with the same food as all the others. If any Pharisee or scribe will gather up his robes about him and demand a meal apart, he will have to go without. A. M.

There were two ways of cleansing the leprosy: the grand way that Naaman expected; the very simple way which the prophet prescribed. Even so there are two ways of salvation: God’s way and man’s way. Man’s way is unavailing, yet much frequented, because it flatters the pride of man. Man’s way of salvation deals with what it takes to be great things: great works which man himself is to do, great organizations, great gifts, which flatter human vanity and will-worship, but have this trifling defect, that they are of no avail. God’s plan knows nothing of earthly grandeurs, burdensome minutiae, external observances. God’s messages are very short and very few and simple. He says only, “Wash and be clean;” “Believe and obey;” “Believe and live.” It rests with you to take Christ’s service or man’s bondage, Christ’s simplicity or man’s inventions. If the kingdom of God is not within you, then it is nowhere for you. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Parrar.

12. Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus.** Truly to the eye of man the Jordan can bear no comparison with the rivers of Damascus, any more than the bare hills of Israel with the garden-forests of the “City of the Sun.” Turbid and discolored from the time when it leaves the clear blue lake of Galilee till it enters the lifeless basin of the Dead Sea; twisting and writhing in its lonely course through the deep, solitary, and, for the most part, desolate valley; without even an isolated human habitation on its banks, and only a narrow belt of trees and verdure on either side to mark its course—the Jordan, apart from its history and the phenomena of its sudden birth and exit, has nothing to attract. But the Abana—or, as it is now called, the Barada—the river to which the beauteous oasis of Damascus owes its beauty and its very existence—winding from the Anti-Lebanon through a deep green zone, its waters clear and transparent as crystal, dashing through rocky dells, or buried from sight under the foliage of a forest of fruit-trees of every kind—the Abana was justly the Syrian’s boast. No wonder that the limpid Abana seemed to Naaman worthier than the muddy Jordan! . . . From the summit of Mt. Hermon we looked down on Tyre and Sidon, on Carmel and Gerizim and Nebo. Lakes Huleh and Gennesareth, sunk in the depths beneath us and reflecting the sunlight, were magnificent. And very striking were the views to the north and east, with the head-waters of the Pharpar rising beneath us and the Abana in the far distance, both rivers marking the courses of their fertilizing streams by the deep green lines of verdure, till the eye rested on the brightness of Damascus, and then turned up the wide opening of Cæle-Syria until shut in by Lebanon. Tristram.

Damascus lies in a plain at the eastern foot of Anti-Lebanon, six or eight days’ journey from Jerusalem. For many miles the city is girdled by fertile fields and gardens, watered by the Barada and other streams; and the vegetation is so fresh and green, that in the East Damascus is called “a pearl in the midst of emeralds.” As the traveller approaches it from Anti-Lebanon, the view is magnificent. A plain, fifty miles in circuit, bordered by blue mountains in the distance, lies before him, forming a vast waving grove of walnut, fig, pomegranate, plum, apricot, citron, and other fruit-trees; while in the distance, rising above this vast sea of green, brown, and yellow foliage, are seen the leaden domes, the gilded crescents, and the marble minarets of Damascus. The situation seems as if marked out by Nature as the site of a great and wealthy city. In the course of its long history it has passed through many fluctuations of fortune, and acknowledged many different masters; at the present day, with a population of some 150,000, it is still one of the most considerable cities of the East. W. G. B.

The Damascus oasis is really a triangle, containing more than two hundred square miles. It owes its existence entirely to the streams from Hermon and Lebanon, especially the Awaj (or Pharpar), and the Barada, the old Abana. The waters of these rivers are distributed everywhere by canals, and where they go they carry fertility and beauty. In the days of Abraham, “Damesek” is spoken of as a well-known city. It seems likely that Abraham tarried here on his way from Mesopotamia to Canaan, and “Eliezer of Damascus,” afterward his steward, may then have been added to his family. From that day to this it has never ceased to be a populous city. If it be asked how it is that amid the fall of empires and the destruction of great cities—Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, Memphis, Thebes—Damascus ever lives, the gurgling waters of the limpid Barada give the reply. This oasis always has been the natural stopping-place for caravans, travellers and armies moving from the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates in the East across the great Arabian steppe to Palestine, to the Mediterranean ports and to Egypt, in the West and Southwest. As we drew toward it we had a token of this fact in meeting a herd of one hundred and forty camels being led from Bagdad on the Tigris to Cairo, the metropolis of Egypt, for sale there. The causes which led armies and tradesmen by this route from Assyria and Babylonia to Egypt three and four thousand years ago are still in force. Damascus is the great highway-house between the East and the West. Dulles.

Better than all the waters of Is-

rael. What is Jordan that I should wash in it? What is the preaching that I should attend on it, where I hear nothing but what I knew before? What are these beggarly elements of water, bread, and wine? Are not these the reasonings of a soul that forgets who appoints the means of grace? What, though it be clay, let Christ use it, and it shall open the eyes, though in itself more likely to put them out. Gurnall.—Christianity comes to us—or rather, instead of that abstract word, let us say Christ, who is Christianity, comes to us—trusting wholly and only to spiritual remedies. He, too, says “wash and be clean.” The one power that cleanses is His blood for pardon, His spirit for holiness. The one condition of receiving these is simple faith in Him; all externals are nothing. Forms and ceremonies, acts of worship, and church ordinances are of no avail. The bond that unites us to Him who is our life is the medium through which life flows to us. And that one bond is faith; and that life is the life-giver who died for us. The Gospel depends wholly on spiritual forces, and is received only by spiritual acts. . . . Christ’s work for us must be all in all, or not at all. There must be no cking out ours with His; no saying, “Well, I do as well as I can—and for the rest I will trust in Christ!” The old cannot be patched with the new in that fashion. You must throw away the rags, and let Him clothe you wholly from head to foot—not in your own righteousness, completed with bits of His—but in His wholly—“if so be that being clothed we may not be found naked.” Powerless we are, but He is strong. Sick, but He is the healer. Leprosy, but He both will and can make us clean. A. M.

13, 14. The servants’ interposition heeded, and the result. Not blinded by pride, nor maddened by passion, they could see nothing humiliating or unreasonable in the proposed washing in Jordan. It seemed to them, as it really was, a simple and appropriate means of healing. So in their strong affection and sympathy, they venture upon their unanswerable appeal. His earnest desire of recovery, they humbly say, would lead him to undergo any amount of toil or of sacrifice. How much rather, then, do this small thing, demanding neither toil nor sacrifice? Their deep interest and sympathy and these reasonable words at once soothe and convince Naaman. His anger is quieted, and he comes to himself. He realizes his leprosy condition and the folly of his pride. His faith is encouraged and hope is rekindled. Both prove strong enough for the journey to the river, and for the sevenfold bath. And both faith and hope find full reward, when, having obeyed “the saying of the man of God, his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child.” In these miracles of the Old Testament, like most of those recorded in the New, some form of human acting preceded or attended the exertion of Divine power. In the restoration of the dead children by Elijah and Elisha, there was the personal contact as well the prayer of faith. Here the seven dippings in Jordan in the spirit of obedience to “the saying of the man of God.” And as in Naaman’s case healing and faith followed close upon obedience, so would it prove with many a sin-troubled soul. If only such a soul would obey the call of Christ to come to Him for healing and cleansing, virtue would assuredly go forth from Him, and the inestimable blessing of the new life would be experienced. B.

These men loved more their master’s health than his passion; and would rather therefore advise than flatter; draw him to good than follow him to evil. Since it was a prophet from whom he received this prescription, they persuade him not to despise it; intimating there could be no fault in the slightness of the receipt, so long as there was no defect of power in the commander; that the virtue of the cure should be in his obedience, not in the nature of the remedy. They persuade and prevail. Next to the prophet Naaman may thank his servants that he is not a leper. He goes down upon their entreaty, and dips seven times in Jordan. His flesh riseth; his leprosy vanisheth: not the unjust fury and technical of the patient shall cross the cure; lest, while God is severe, the prophet should be discredited. Bp. II.

Naaman had good servants. The little maid sent him to Elisha, and now his attendants will not let him go. Their advice is so undeniably reasonable that there is no resisting it. Naaman had already “done a great thing,” in coming to the foreign soil, and seeking help from an Israelite, as well as in bringing so large a reward, which he was ready to give for healing, and now to refuse to do so simple a thing would be preposterous. But it is a peculiarity of human nature, that it is always more willing to seek great ends by difficult than by easy paths, and suspects simple means if they profess to accomplish large results. We see the same tendency everywhere. Man loves involution, and trouble, and effort. God loves simplicity. The most unreasonable and tragic instance is the frequent rejection of the Gospel, just because there is so little for us to do in order to be cured. It asks nothing from us but our acceptance of its terms. People are willing to fast and go on pilgrimages, and practice austerities, to swing with hooks in their shoulder-blades or to hold their hands up till the arm is stiffened, or to build churches, and spend money and pains to secure salvation, however falsely they may conceive of the nature of it; but they are not willing to give up trying to do anything, and to take salvation as God’s free gift. A. M.

A readiness to do some great thing is not peculiar to Naaman the Syrian. There are many Christians who can never find a place large enough to do their duty. They must needs strain after great changes, and their works must utter themselves by a loud report. Any reform in society, short of a revolution, any improvement in character, less radical than that of conversion, is too faint a work, in their view, to be much valued. Nor is it merely ambition, but often it is a truly Christian zeal, guarded by no sufficient views of the less imposing matters of life, which betrays men into such impressions. If there be anything, in fact, wherein the views of God and the impressions of men are apt to be at total variance, it is in respect to the solemnity and importance of ordinary duties. The hurtfulness of mistake here, is of course very great. Trying always to do great things, to have extraordinary occasions every day, or to produce extraordinary changes, when small ones are quite as much needed, ends, of course, in defeat and dissipation. It produces a sort of religion in the gross, which is no religion in particular. H. B.

Single-mindedness, or simple-mindedness, is a characteristic of childhood; and child-likeness is the standard of greatness for the disciple of Jesus. A strong thinker, and a child-like looker for God and for God’s truth, has said: “The simplest things, after all, are the hardest, apparently, for people to see. They are looking, like Naaman, for great biddings or teachings. I am glad Jesus thanked the Father, as he did after John’s disciples had come to Him from their master, that God had revealed these things to babes. I want to be numbered among those babes, whose eyes, unambitious or unable to see perplexities, are content with lovingly looking at the simplicities which there are in Christ.” S. S. T.

15-19. Naaman’s noble confession, and consecration to the God of Israel.** A radical spiritual transformation is wrought with the physical. He is no longer a proud heathen prince, but an humble believer in the God who has achieved this double miracle in himself. Now he knows that God had directed Elisha’s act and message; that God had effected the cure. Thus “believing in his heart,” he instantly returns to Samaria (thirty miles), makes “confession with his mouth,” and desires to leave an offering in token of his gratitude and devotion. The confession Elisha gladly heard. The offering, though presented in a right spirit, and with no thought of making recompense, he declined. Neither himself nor the simple schools over which he presided needed such help. Whatever was required beyond the returns of their own toil was readily supplied by the few godly households of Israel.

With the confession of Jehovah as the only true God, Naaman declares his allegiance to this only Lord. Him alone will be worship and serve. He is not, indeed, fully aware of the spiritual character of true worship and the utter singleness of true service. The two requests he makes show this. First, he asks for a gift of earth enough from the enclosure of Elisha’s dwelling, to construct with it an altar to Jehovah in his own house. This request, so natural to one of his training, Elisha tacitly declines, thus indirectly instructing him in the spirituality of acceptable worship. The second request (18) shows the sincerity of his confession, and the thorough honesty of the man’s nature. Uninstructed as he was, both conscience and heart told him that even an outward seeming of worship to his master’s God was wrong. Foreseeing this great hindrance in the way of his purposed confession of Jehovah, he brings the matter to Jehovah’s prophet for counsel. In his civil capacity as the king’s personal attendant, when the king himself bows down and all his attendants, would it be wrong for him, not in worship but in simple courtesy and obedience, to bow with the king? This nice point Elisha does not decide. He neither allows nor forbids. But he puts the doing or not doing upon the same conscience, now stirred at the anticipation, afterward to be more fully enlightened by the arousing Spirit. He knows the man is true and earnest, and means faithfully to serve the God of Israel. Such a man, he knows, will be guided and taught, and kept steadfast too, by the Spirit of God who has won him. Since He has given life, He will give light. So without mistrust or anxiety concerning his future, Elisha dismisses the humble, grateful Syrian general with the benediction of God’s peace! B.

15. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company.** It is not always seen what this involved. It involved going out of his way at least fifty miles. At the Jordan, Naaman was on his way home, had accomplished a fourth part of his return journey; in three more days he would be in Damascus, in his own palace. But he feels that it would be an unworthy act to accept his cure and make no acknowledgment of it, having turned away from the prophet “in a rage” (verse 12), now, without apology, or retraction, or expression of regret or gratitude, to return into his own country under the obligation of an inestimable benefit. His cure has wrought in him not merely a revulsion of feeling from rage and fury to thankfulness, but a change of belief. It has convinced him that the God of Elisha is the God of the whole earth. It has turned him from a worshipper of Rimmon into a worshipper of Jehovah. He must proclaim this. He must let the prophet know what is in his heart. He must, if possible, induce him to accept a recompense. Therefore he thinks nothing of an outlay of time and trouble, but retraces his steps to the Israelite capital, taking with him all his company, his horses and his chariots, his gold and silver and bales of clothing, and numerous train of attendants. And came, and stood before him—i.e., descended from his chariot, and asked admittance into the prophet’s house, and was received and allowed an audience—a striking contrast with his previous appearance before the house, in expectation that the prophet would come down and wait upon him. And he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. This is an acknowledgment of the sole supremacy of Jehovah on the part of a heathen, such as we scarcely find elsewhere. The general belief of the time, and indeed of antiquity, was that every land had its own god, who was supreme in it—Baal in Phoenicia, Chemosh in Moab, Moloch in Ammon, Rimmon in Syria, Bel or Bel-Merodach in Babylon, Amun-Ra in Egypt, etc., and when there is an acknowledgment of Jehovah on the part of heathens in Scripture, it is almost always the recognition of him as a god—the God of the Jews or of the Israelites, one among many. But here we have a plain and distinct recognition of Him as the one and only God that is in all the earth. Hammond.

16. In this particular case Elisha felt that he would be unfaithful to the God whom he served if he accepted anything. It might lead Naaman to think that he had purchased that blessing, which God bestowed as a free gift of undeserved mercy. It might lead him to think that the prophets of God were influenced by mercenary motives in granting their aid, like the magicians and soothsayers of the heathen. Hence Elisha refused to accept a gift which was thus capable of being misunderstood. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. It was creditable to Naaman that he pressed the prophet to accept his token of gratitude; it was equally creditable to Elisha that he would not take it. W. H. G.

17. Naaman distinctly intimated his conviction that the land of Israel was a sacred soil, seeing that there alone the true God was to be found; and it was for this reason that he desired to possess a portion of its venerated dust. If, therefore, we look to the uses to which the Easterns apply the soil of places accounted holy, it is possible we may hit upon the right reason for Naaman’s singular request. To the Mohammedans at the present day the sacred soil is that of Mecca; and the man accounts himself happy who has in his possession the smallest portion of it for use in his devotions. He carries it about his person in a small bag; and in his prayers he deposits this before him upon the ground in such a manner that, in his frequent prostrations, the head comes down upon this morsel of sacred soil—so that in some sort he may be said to worship thereon. May it not be that Naaman contemplated forming, with this larger portion of the soil of the sacred land, a spot on which he might offer up his devotions to the God of Israel? Kitto.

18,19. It seems that it was Naaman’s duty to attend the king of Syria when he went to pay his idol homage, and as the king leaned upon him with his arm upon his shoulder, and bowed very low, he could not well avoid bending his own body with the king. And he meant to ask whether, if he did this out of duty to his master, and not of reverence to the idol, he should commit sin. It showed great tenderness of conscience in him. If the same question were put to us, we should say that it would depend very much upon circumstances whether it would be right or wrong for Naaman to do this. If he wished to save himself from persecution by a seeming compliance with the idolatries of his country, or if any would suppose him to be still an idolater from that act, then it would undoubtedly be wrong; but if it would not be so taken, nor was done to avoid persecution, but was only an act of duty to his king, there was no harm in it. Now it is evident that Naaman meant no concealment of his new faith. He avowed before all the company of Syrians who were with him, that he would henceforth worship only Jehovah. And he probably built an altar on his return, and openly worshipped the true God, so that it would be known when he went to the house of Rimmon that he was no idolater. Therefore Elisha said unto him, “Go in peace.” W. H. Lewis.

All the Syrian court shall know that he sacrificeth upon Israelitish earth to the God of Israel. They shall hear him protest to have neither heart nor knee for Rimmon. If he must go into the house of that idol, it shall be as a servant, not as a suppliant: his duty to his master shall carry him; not his devotion to his master’s god: if his master go to worship there; not he: neither doth he say, “When I bow myself to the image of Rimmon;” but, “in the house.” He shall bow to be leaned upon, not to adore. Yet had not Naaman thought this a fault he had not craved a pardon. It is not for us to expect a full stature in the cradle of conversion. As nature, so grace rises by many degrees to perfection. Leprosy was in Naaman cured at once; not corruption. The prophet, as glad to see him but thus forward, dismisses him with a civil valediction. Bp. H.

Did Elisha accept Naaman’s plea? The evidence turns entirely on Elisha’s words, “Go in peace.” These words are the common form of Oriental leave-taking. They may have been little more than a courteous dismissal. Elisha may have felt that the permission craved by Naaman involved a question of conscience which he was not called upon to resolve. Hence he would not sanction Naaman’s want of consistency on the one hand nor condemn it on the other. He declines the office of judge. He leaves conscience to do her work. Who shall say this was not the wisest course to adopt? The prophet saw Naaman’s weakness, but he also saw Naaman’s difficulty. Put the worst construction on his words, and you will say he evades the question; put the best, and you will say he exercises a wise forbearance. We may fairly ask how far Naaman is to be excused in urging the plea of the text. Superstition mingled with his faith. He was a heathen, only just converted, only newly enlightened. We may excuse Naaman, but we cannot pretend as Christians to make his plea ours or to justify our conduct by his. Bp. Perovene.

It is worthy of being noted that the indulgence which Naaman sought for was not denied by Elisha. There is perhaps somesomething more to be deduced from this than the facile accommodation of these earlier times. There may be instruction in it to us on whom the latter ends of the world have come; and I should feel inclined to see in this history a rebuke of those sticklers for small things who scruple not at great things, who strain at gnats while they swallow camels. T. C.

Elisha declared neither that God would nor that he would not forgive Naaman his departure from the path of strict right. He was not called upon to give an answer, since Naaman had not put a question, but had only expressed a wish. His “Go in peace” is to be taken simply as “wishing the departing Syrian the peace of God upon the road.” So he departed from him a little way. Naaman left the presence of Elisha, quitted Samaria, and had gone a short way on his homeward journey when Gehazi overtook him. Verse 19 is closely connected with verse 20. Hammond.

Chief Distinctive Lessons of the Story.

The subtle interlacing of providential events under God’s control is here most happily illustrated. No thought had that marauding Syrian band in securing the little captive of the blessing that would follow to their chief commander. No thought had Naaman’s wife in bringing (perhaps by her own choice and purchase) this maid into her household of the healing of her lord. But God’s providence led to that particular foray and to the transfer of that captive. He conducted the godly child to the splendid heathen home of Naaman. Thus he wrought out the whole preparation for the ultimate blessing to Naaman and his household, to the kings and people of Israel and Syria, and to multitudes in subsequent ages. And it may be noted, Christ expressly recognizes this incident as illustrating God sovereignty in providence and grace (Luke 4: 27).

Here also we read one of the finest, most complete illustrations on record of the vast issues of good resulting from a single kindly and devout impulse—and this in a youthful heart. Herself and her parentage nameless and obscure; except for this record, utterly unknown. Yet by her thoughtful, sympathetic kindness she has saved the name and fame of Naaman. Nay more, by her simple helpful instrumentality, Naaman himself was saved. And through her indirect agency, by the Gospel truths disseminated through the story over all the earth, this unknown maiden and her simple, heartfelt exclamation have been honored of God in the production of blessing to unnumbered souls.

The man of leprosy soul neither knows his inward defilement nor wants it cured. The way of cure—by the sacrifice of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit—makes him a recipient and dependent, therefore his pride rejects it. And the inner experiences he must undergo in the substitution of humility for pride, of submission for self-will, of self-restraint and sacrifice for self-indulgence, are all repelling and painful. And yet in this matter God’s voluntary doing and man’s required experiences are all worthy of a wise, holy and loving God, while they exalt and ennoble the soul that accepts and conforms to them. For the breaking down of man’s natural pride of heart is not humiliating, but exalting. The subjection of man’s will to the wiser, better will of God is not enslaving, but ennobling, and principled, helpful self-denial is as consciously elevating as unrestrained, selfish indulgence is degrading. For the lowly, obedient and unselfish heart is a trusting and loving heart. And the possessor of such a heart is the child and heir of God, assured of sufficient grace here, and of abundant glory and joy hereafter!

Men seek to do great things in the pursuit of position, power and gain. But the acquisition of each of these objects is ordinarily secured by gradual advances, by steadiness in regular toil and by successive small undertakings. So it is pre-eminently in the attainment of salvation and with progress in the Christian life. All the great things are done by God Himself in the giving of His Son, in the willing sacrifice of Christ and in the mission of the Holy Ghost. Ours is the smaller, simpler work of a receiving and appropriating faith, in the good but the lesser part of a willing glad choice of eternal life. Very simple and clear is the way of attaining this life. It is to come as unto a flowing fountain for the cleansing of sin’s defilement, and to receive the new spirit of life in Christ Jesus. B.

There is a distinct parallel between the miracle and the greater miracle which cleanses a sinful heart, in that in both the cure is suspended on simple compliance with the terms, and that, in regard to the Gospel healing, the sole condition of being cleansed is to let Christ cleanse us. “Wash and be clean” is the one call of Christ’s love. It was not easy to provide that all-cleansing fountain. To do so required the mystery of Incarnation and the agony of Calvary; but, being provided, all else is simple. Jesus has done all, and we have but to accept what is done. “Wash and be clean” is a command shadowing forth “the soul-quickening words, Believe and live.”

We have our Lord’s authority for seeing in this story of Naaman at least some of the principles which regulate the dispensation of His love and grace, exemplified for the world. He alleges it as an instance of the way in which the universal love overleaped all national distinctions, and surged over the barriers which Jewish narrowness would have erected for its free course. “None of them were cleansed, save Naaman, the Syrian.” A. M.

Verses 20-27.

Mercy and judgment both find place in God’s dispensations. The history of Naaman is a signal instance of God’s free mercy granted to a stranger who was not of the chosen race—who came, not only from a foreign land, but from one which was frequently in open hostility to Israel. It shows that even in that restricted economy God’s grace was not confined to one favored people; but they who sought Him, from whatever land and whatever nation, might find Him and receive rich blessings from His hand. But to this bestowment of God’s favor upon an alien there is a reverse picture—the infliction of just judgment upon an offender who was not only one of the chosen race, an Israelite, but who was specially privileged as belonging to the household of the prophet. This shows that descent from Abraham and connection with the commonwealth of Israel are not of themselves a sure passport to the Divine favor. It is an anticipation of the truth that many shall come from the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. W. H. G.

20. The temptation of Gehazi, and the fall. Gehazi is to be classed with Judas and with Ananias and Sapphira, rather than with Achan or Simon Magus. Unlike the true servants of the heathen Naaman, he was a false servant of the Lord’s prophet. They had no means of knowledge and grace. A professed follower of Jehovah, he had the fulness of the knowledge then possessed and the grace then given. More privileged he, than even the other sons of the prophets, by his special relation to Elisha. Therefore the words by which he is here characterized, “Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God,” convey a peculiar sadness and solemnity in connection with his fearful crime. Like Judas and Ananias, he belonged to the fellowship of the Lord’s disciples. By this his guilt was aggravated, and its effects tended greatly to harm and hinder the Lord’s work.

Gehazi said, “I will avail myself of the offers of this despicable Syrian, whom my master has foolishly let go free of cost and sacrifice.” While this Jewish servant of Elisha despises Naaman because a heathen, yet his eye and heart are admiringly set upon Naaman’s sacks of treasure. But his thought and desire went further than mere possession of some of this treasure. He was already conceiving himself as having olive-yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and many servants. The money would give him all these, and set him among the rich and distinguished in the land. As Naaman’s departing retinue disappeared in the distance, Gehazi’s resolve was formed. Strangely enough, too, he binds himself to its execution by a sacred form of oath: “As the Lord liveth.” He had already broken the ninth and tenth Commandments. Now he breaks the third as he goes forth to break the eighth. He follows after Naaman to rob him under a fraudulent pretence. B.

Naaman, a Syrian, a courtier, a soldier, had many servants, and we read how wise and good they were (verse 13). Elisha, a holy prophet, a man of God, has but one servant, and he proves a base liar. They that heard of Elisha at a distance honored him and got good by what they heard; but he that stood continually before him to hear his wisdom had no good impressions made upon him either by his doctrine or miracles. One would expect that Elisha’s servant should be a saint (even Ahab’s servant, Obadiah, was), but even Christ Himself had a Judas among His followers. The means of grace cannot give grace. H.

20. My master hath spared Naaman this Syrian.** The words “this Syrian” are emphatic. Gehazi persuades himself that it is right to spoil a Syrian—that is, a Gentile, and an enemy of Israel. As the Lord liveth. These words are here a profane oath. It could be no fit occasion for a solemn asseveration. But Gehazi, anxious to make himself believe that he is acting in a proper, and, even, in a religious spirit, does not scruple to introduce one of the most solemn of religious phrases. B. C.

21, 22. Gehazi’s reception, and his request of Naaman. Recognized at once as the servant of Elisha, he is treated with great respect by the grateful Syrian. Naaman even descends from his chariot to greet this supposed messenger of the prophet. Gehazi at once appropriates this thought of Naaman, and thus begins this complicated series of falsehoods. As with every plan of covetousness for wrong getting, so this one involved many untruths. Elisha had not known of his coming; could not have authorized it, much less have sent him. Elisha had not asked for gifts; nay, had declined them. Gehazi well understood the principle which actuated the prophet in declining. Not only did he misinterpret Elisha’s conduct, and so throw a stain upon the prophet’s character, but what was even more heinous, he was falsifying God’s own declarations by the prophet’s mouth and act of the utter freeness of His grace. In God’s name Elisha had said, I will take no recompense for the blessing. Now Gehazi abuses his position to counteract this Divine announcement. Further, he takes as his own what, as Naaman gives it, is a return for the Divine goodness in healing. Thus Gehazi robs God of Naaman’s purposed gift to Him, and he robs Naaman of so much treasure.

That the man was shrewd appears in the reason and form of his request. Nothing was asked for Elisha himself; but for those under his oversight and care. Yet more, the request is made in view of an emergency that has risen since Naaman parted with Elisha. In all this fabricated statement he only so far protects Elisha’s consistency that his own story may pass muster. As for any other care and for any principle, the story furnishes no trace.

One thing he overlooked. This was the vast disproportion of the amount he asked to the object proposed. But his covetousness would be content with no less, though any score of the sons of the prophets might well have been satisfied with half the sum asked for.

23, 24. Naaman’s gift: where bestowed by Gehazi. The covetous servant required urging only to keep up the play he was enacting. “Please you to take two talents,” said Naaman. Very gladly Gehazi accepted. For in this comparatively vast treasure—equal to the amount paid for the whole city of Samaria—he saw wealth and abundance for life. In his gratitude Naaman also insisted upon sending back two of his servants to carry the bags of silver. But soon as they reached some point in the city, Gehazi took the bags, dismissed the servants, and concealed his ill-gotten wealth in Elisha’s house.

25-27. Elisha and Gehazi. The judgment of leprosy. Gehazi then resumes his place in attendance upon his master. Elisha’s first question ought to have warned him of some knowledge on the prophet’s part. It seems designed as an opportunity of voluntary confession and repentance. But the covetous spirit, now enhanced by possession, could not see this possible meaning or purpose in the prophet’s question. Still, as he thinks, guarding himself, he replies with a square falsehood. Like Ananias, he thinks to keep his doubly stolen riches, at least without the prophet’s knowledge. And in this “Satan” also deceived him “to lie to the Holy Ghost.”

Elisha’s words of arraignment are almost gentle in the reproach they address to his instructed conscience. Yet are they explicit and plain, both respecting Gehazi’s act (now denied), and respecting his intended use of his treasure. The prophet’s heart was saddened at the occurrences that had just taken place, in the seeking and meeting of Naaman. All the deceit and wickedness of Gehazi, the result of simply yielding to covetous desire, he saw and grieved over. And he knew all the effects of evil to result from this selfish sin of Gehazi, through its unhappy result, possibly upon Naaman and upon Syria, certainly upon Gehazi himself and upon the people of Israel. He saw God’s work hindered, God’s grace specially dishonored at a time when apostasy widely prevailed. This man hitherto professing a lowly life of faith in God, unselfish and truthful, a life then mainly needed as the great stay against the inroads of evil, would by his fall shake feeble souls from their hold upon God. He would destroy Elisha’s character with the people as a pure true prophet. Nay, he would represent Jehovah himself as having the selfish false spirit of Baal.

All this was involved in the time and the events then transpiring. Servant as he was, his position with God’s prophet and his professed relations with God Himself gave him this tremendous vantage-ground for evil doing. Therefore went forth the judgment of God, at the mouth of Elisha, in the mark of leprosy, borne down to after generations. Dismissed from the prophet’s service, Gehazi “went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.” But he went as a rich man, openly taking his treasure. He invested it, too, as he had proposed; and we may suppose, from 2 K. 8: 1-6, that his was the exact career depicted by Christ (Luke 12: 13-20). All this is strange, some may think—that God should suffer him to possess this wealth in peace, obtained by fraud and falsehood. But this is precisely what God is suffering to be done by all who have the purpose and hardihood to do it. For Him to interpose and take away from every man what is dishonestly gotten would be to revolutionize His ways among men. It would be to interfere seriously with men’s own agency and responsibility. It would be prematurely to execute His now waiting judgment. Christ’s words apply here, too: “Let both wheat and tares grow unto the judgment.”

Like the Pharisees of the Master’s time, Gehazi had his reward. He enjoyed the wealth and position he had coveted. He was elevated toward Naaman’s position. But he had Naaman’s curse. This curse no waters of the Jordan would ever relieve or remove. Nay, life itself would not bring it to an end; for the true and the terrible leprosy rested upon his selfish, guilty soul. This he alone had brought upon himself. B.

25. But he went in, and stood before his master. Gehazi, lest his absence should be noticed, as soon as he had put away the money, sought his master’s presence, entering the room casually, as if he had been busied about the house. He was met at once, however, by the plain question which follows. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? literally, Whence, Gehazi? A short, stern, abrupt question. And he said, Thy servant went no whither. There was no help for it. One lie necessitates another. Once enter on the devious path, and you cannot say whither it will conduct you. To deceive and plunder a foreigner of a hostile nation probably seemed to Gehazi a trifle, either no sin at all, or a very venial sin. But now he finds himself led on to telling a direct lie to his master, which even he could not have justified to himself.

26,27. The prophet follows Gehazi’s thoughts, which had been to purchase, with the money obtained from Naaman, olive-yards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, etc., and asks—Was this a time for such proceedings? Keil well explains, “Was this the time, when so many hypocrites pretend to be prophets from selfishness and avarice, and bring the prophetic office into contempt with unbelievers, for a servant of the true God to take money and goods from a non-Israelite . . . that he might acquire property and luxury for himself?” It was evidently a most unfit time. As Thenius says, “In any other case better than in this mightiest thou have yielded to thy desire for gold and goods.” Hammond.

“Is this a time to receive money and garments, and,” which thou hast already purchased in thy conceit, “olive-yards and vine-yards, and sheep and oxen, and men servants and maid servants?” Did my mouth refuse that thy hands might take? Was I so careful to win honor to my God and credit to my profession by denying these Syrian presents, that thou mightest dash both in receiving them? Was there no way to enrich thyself but by belying thy master; by disparaging this holy function in the eyes of a new convert? Since thou wouldst needs therefore take part of Naaman’s treasure, take part with him in his leprosy; “The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever.”

Oh, heavy talents of Gehazi! Oh, the horror of this one unchangeable suit, which shall never be but loathsomely white, noisomely unclean! How much better had been a light purse and a homely coat, with a sound body, a clear soul! Too late doth that wretched man now find that he hath loaded himself with a curse; that he hath clad himself with shame. His sin shall be read ever in his face, in his seed: all passengers, all posterities shall now say, “Behold the characters of Gehazi’s covetousness, fraud, sacrilege!” The act overtakes the word; “He went out of his presence a leper as white as snow.” It is a woful exchange that Gehazi hath made with Naaman. Naaman came a leper, returned a disciple; Gehazi came a disciple, returned a leper; Naaman left behind both his disease and money; Gehazi takes up both his money and his disease. Now shall Gehazi never look upon himself but he shall think of Naaman, whose skin is transferred upon him with those talents; and shall wear out the rest of his days in shame and pain and sorrow. This son of the prophets shall more loud and lively preach the justice of God by his face than others by their tongue. Bp. II.

His punishment is severe; but his sin was great. The leprosy was a fitting punishment, both because it had been Naaman’s, from which obedient reliance on God had set him free, and because of its symbolical meaning, as the type of sin. Gehazi got his coveted money, but he got something else, along with it, which he did not bargain for, and which took all the sweetness out of it. That is always the case. “Ill-gotten gear never prospers;” and if a man has set his heart on worldly good, he may succeed in amassing a fortune, but the leprosy will cleave to him, and his soul will be all crusted and foul with that living death. How many successful men, perhaps high in reputation in the Church as in the world, would stand “lepers as white as snow” if we had God’s eyes to see them with? A. M.

Remembering how leprosy in the Bible is always a type of sin and its result, spiritual death—we may ask ourselves, Dare we gain riches by unworthy means, when, so gained, they bring moral death with them? When we ask ourselves this question, the punishment of Gehazi, dreadful as it was, does not appear excessive. Still less does it appear so when we consider who Gehazi was. A prophet—Elisha’s privileged companion—a man to whom the glory of Jehovah, not only in the sight of Naaman, but of the rebellious people of Israel, ought to have been beyond all things precious, such a one willing to barter all this, to risk the undoing of Elisha’s prophetic work for money! The answer of conscience is that it is only just that that servant who knew his Lord’s will and did it not should be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12: 47). Houghton.

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death (Prov. 21: 6). Those who get wealth by fraud and injustice cannot expect either the comfort or the continuance of it. What was Gehazi profited, though he gained his two talents, when thereby he lost his health, his honor, his peace, his service, and, if repentance prevented not, his soul forever? His heart (says Bishop Hall) was packed up in Naaman’s chests, and he must run after him to fetch it. Multitudes, by coveting worldly wealth, have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows. H.

One sin leads on to another by a sequence which is inevitable. Gehazi begins with covetousness. He cannot see the wedges of silver and gold and the large bales of rich stuffs without a keen desire to obtain possession of a portion. His master’s refusal seems to him mere folly, almost madness. He soon frames a scheme by which his master’s intentions shall be frustrated. The scheme involves him in lying; may, in a whole heap of lies. He tells a circumstantial tale in which there is not a single word of truth. Gehazi obtains even more than he had ventured to ask; hides it away without any difficulty, and thinks that all is over. But all is not over. “Whence comest thou, Gehazi?” He must either confess all or directly and unmistakably lie to his master. Of course the lie is resolved upon; his previous conduct has so demoralized him that we cannot even imagine him to have hesitated. The only security against a moral decline as grievous as Gehazi’s is not to enter upon it, not to take the first step.

Gehazi’s punishment has also its lesson. He was a rich man, and might carry out all his far-reaching schemes of proprietorship and lordship over others. But what will it all profit him if he is to be to the end of his days a leper? The apples of Sodom, so “fair to view,” are felt and known to be worthless when they “turn to ashes on the lips.” So was it with him; and so is it with those who pursue a course similar to his. The prosperity acquired by fraud has within it a taint of rottenness. There is a drawback of some kind or other which deprives the prosperity of all its value, and makes the wealthy prosperous man a miserable wretch. If he escape external calamity, he will not escape the worm of remorse, which will eat into his heart and poison his cup of pleasure. Hammond.

Almost every specific sin or breach of a definite commandment may be traced to the one controlling spirit of greed. The LOVE of money is a root of ALL evil. But this root-sin has its source and its life in unbelief and rejection of God. The unbelieving heart is a heart supremely controlled by self-interest and self-pleasure, by the spirit of greed.

Gehazi was the Ananias and the Demas of the Old Testament. By his close personal connection with Elisha, he reminds us of Judas. To him Elisha could say, as Peter to Ananias, “Thou hast not lied to men, but to God!” And of him, as Paul of Demas, “He has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” And as a signal hindrance, offence and grief to the cause he professedly espoused, his was the same ultimate condemnation.

As the blessing of God maketh rich and addeth no sorrow, so the curse of God goes with ill-gotten gain, even to children’s children. B.