Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 5:8
And it was [so], when Elisha the man of God had 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.
8. that he sent to the king ] The prophets of Jehovah were now in no such peril as they had been in Ahab’s days. Elisha has his house in the royal city, and has no fear of sending a message to the palace.
that there is a prophet in Israel ] i.e. a true messenger of the God who can kill and make alive. Cf. the words of the people (Luk 7:16) when our Lord raised the widow’s son at Nain, ‘A great prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited his people’.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He shall know … Israel – namely, That which thou (the king of Israel) appearest to have forgotten, that there is a prophet – a real Yahweh prophet – in Israel.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. Let him come now to me] Do not be afflicted; the matter belongs to me, as the prophet of the Most High; send him to me, and he shall know that I am such.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Jehoram had not advised with Elisha, either because the sudden surprisal made him forget it, or because he hated him, and scorned to beg any thing from him.
Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? there was no just occasion for thee to do so.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8-12. when Elisha the man of God hadheard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent tothe king, saying, . . . let him come now to meThis was thegrand and ultimate object to which, in the providence of God, thejourney of Naaman was subservient. When the Syrian general, with hisimposing retinue, arrived at the prophet’s house, Elisha sent him amessage to “go and wash in Jordan seven times.” Thisapparently rude reception to a foreigner of so high dignity incensedNaaman to such a degree that he resolved to depart, scornfullyboasting that the rivers of Damascus were better than all the watersof Israel.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes,…. And upon what account:
that he sent to the king, saying, wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? and thereby expressed so much concern and distress:
let him come now to me: meaning Naaman the Syrian leper:
and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel; able in the name of the Lord to work miracles, which he should be sensible of and acknowledge, to the glory of the God of Israel, by the cure that should be wrought upon him; and hereby he taxed the king of Israel with ignorance or neglect of him as a prophet.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Before Elisha – Verses 8-14
Somehow Elisha learned of the coming of Naaman to have his leprosy healed and of the distraught king, who was so beside himself that he had torn his clothing. He sent a message then to the king of Israel, rebuking him for having torn his robe. He offered, if the king would send Naaman to him, he would cure the leprosy, and the Syrian captain would know there is a prophet in Israel. This last was also a rebuke of the king of Israel. He was not aware of Elisha’s ministry, apparently, but if the captain of Syria’s host came to him, the captain would know there is a prophet in Israel (Hos 6:3).
From the sequel it may be supposed that Naaman felt a little put out that he had to go to the prophet rather than the prophet coming forth to meet such a worthy as himself. But he came with all his entourage of horses and chariots and servants and stopped before the door of Elisha. He did not see the prophet, for Elisha sent out a message to him; that he should go wash himself seven times in the Jordan River. Then his flesh would come clean of the leprosy, and he would be cured. Naaman could be healed in this simple manner, but he must exercise faith in the prescribed remedy.
This was not at all what the great man expected, and he was filled with wrath. He began to declaim against the prophet. Elisha should have come out to meet Naaman, call loudly to his God, and clap his hands over the leprous lesions on his body, And if Naaman needed to bathe, the waters of the rivers of Abana and Pharpar back in Damascus, his home, were far better and cleaner than the water of Jordan The more Naaman thought of the prophet’s instructions the angrier he became. He turned his horses and chariots and left the house of Elisha raging against his humiliating treatment. Elisha was teaching him a lesson in humility by which to receive the Lord’s blessing (Note Pro 29:23).
It was such a simple solution, and Naaman had so much to gain by trying it! The servants tried to reason with him. Naaman had been ready to do some great deed in order to get cleansed of his leprosy, but to bathe in muddy Jordan was too demeaning to the great man. Naaman had been looking to the fanfare accompanying his cure more than to the One who would do it. He, like the world today, was ready to save himself, but unwilling to admit his own helplessness to do so and allow the Lord to do it (Ecc 8:8).
They prevailed on Naaman by their wise counsel, and he went down to the Jordan and dipped himself in it seven times, as directed. Six times the great man must have gone into the water and come out the same, and he may have been skeptical that one more would make a difference. But complete obedience to. the Lord’s requirement is necessary, as the number seven signifies. At the seventh dip Naaman came out of Jordann with the beautiful pink, and smooth skin of a little child. His leprosy was gone as the man of God had promised him.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
B. NAAMANS CLEANSING 5:814
TRANSLATION
(8) And it came to pass when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, that he sent onto the king, saying, Why have you torn your garments? Let him come, I pray you, unto me, that he may know there is a prophet in Israel. (9) And Naaman came with his horse and his chariot, and stood at the entrance of Elishas house. (10) And Elisha sent unto him a messenger, saying, Go and wash seven tunes in the Jordan, and your flesh will return to you, and be clean. (11) And Naaman was wroth, and went away and said, Behold I thought, Unto me he would surely come out, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leprosy. (12) Are not Abanah and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, that I may be clean? And he turned and went away in wrath. (13) And his servants drew near, and spoke unto him, and said, My father, if a great thing the prophet had spoken unto you, would you not have done it? And how much more if he said unto you, Wash and be clean? (14) And he went down, and dipped in the Jordan seven times according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh returned like the flesh of a little lad, and he was clean.
COMMENTS
The king had not attempted to keep his reaction to Benhadads letter secret. In fact he wanted his subjects to know what an unreasonable and ruthless adversary Benhadad really was. News of the kings distress reached the ears of Elisha. The prophets word to the king contained first a gentle rebuke. Why had the king torn his clothes? Had he forgotten that God still had His representative in the land? Send him to me, Elisha suggested, that he may discover that there truly is a prophet in this land (2Ki. 5:8). The king may be the head of the state and embody all earthly power, but the prophet was the duly commissioned agent of God and the channel of spiritual power. He alone could help under the circumstances.
In short order Naaman and his entourage arrived at the humble abode of Elisha in the city of Samaria. A man of his station and rank was not about to enter such humble quarters, and so he simply waited impatiently at the door of the house (2Ki. 5:9). Regarding the pride of his visitor as worthy of rebuke, Elisha remained within the house and sent his servant out to communicate with this dignitary. The prophet was not trying to be impolite; he was trying to impress upon the mind of this general the absolute nothingness of earthly wealth and grandeur, and the dignity of the prophetic office.
If the actions of the prophet insulted the inflated ego of Naaman, his instruction did even more. Go wash in the Jordan seven times, the servant ordered in the name of his master. What a burden! The nearest point of the Jordan river from Samaria was some twenty miles distant. If Naaman had the faith to go to the Jordan, and there persisted in the formal act of dipping in the river seven times, the scaly leprous skin would disappear and clean flesh would appear (2Ki. 5:10).
Naaman was shocked, horrified, and angered by the treatment he had received from this as yet unseen prophet. He had expected to have been waited on and to have received every possible attention; but these expectations had been rudely rebuffed by the failure of the prophet even to greet him at the door.[534] The general had a very different mental image of what should have transpired there that day. He pictured the prophet emerging from his house, and with great fanfare, waving his hand over the leprous spot while he solemnly called upon the name of his God. He expected an instantaneous cure, witnessed perhaps by hundreds of the inhabitants of Samaria (2Ki. 5:11). Instead he was told that he must do somethingdip in the muddy Jordan! Incredible! The rivers of DamascusAbanah and Pharpar[535]were fresh, clear, beautiful, and romantic. If the leprous taint was to be washed away, would not the crystal clear waters of his native land have more cleaning power than the turbid, sluggish and often clay-colored waters of Jordan? Disgusted and perturbed, Naaman wheeled his chariot around and departed in a cloud of dust (2Ki. 5:12).
[534] The Hebrew emphasizes in the most forceful way that Naaman regarded it the duty of Elisha to come out to him.
[535] Precise location of these rivers is uncertain. It has been suggested that they are the modern Barada river and one of its tributaries.
Fortunately for Naaman, his servants did not share in his wild indignation. When their master bad cooled somewhat, one of his servants, acting as a spokesman for the others, reasoned with Naaman. My father is a deferential and at the same time an affectionate way in which a servant addressed his master. The servant suggested that if Elisha had directed Naaman to do some difficult thing, the general would have attempted to do it. How much more should he be willing to do the simple, if somewhat silly, thing which the man of God had designated. The logic was unanswerable, and Naaman was persuaded (2Ki. 5:13). At the first opportunity, he turned his chariot eastward and began to make his way through the rapidly descending valleys toward the Jordan. When he exactly complied with the prophets instructions, the miracle occurred. Not only was the leprosy removed, his flesh became as soft and tender as that of a little boy (2Ki. 5:14).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(8) There is a prophet.With stress on there is (ysh): scil., as his message pre-supposes.
When Elisha . . . had heard.He was in Samaria at the time (2Ki. 5:3), and would hear of the coming of the great Syrian captain and of the kings alarm. Why did not Jehoram think at once of Elisha? King and prophet were not on good terms with each other. (Comp. 2Ki. 3:14.) Besides, Elisha had not as yet done any miracle of this sort; and his apprehensions may have made the king unable, for the moment, to think at all.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes Why yield to such frenzy of emotion and alarm? Hast thou forgotten the miracle in the wilderness of Edom, (see 2Ki 3:13; 2Ki 3:18,) and will thou still be stubbornly ignorant that there is a prophet in Israel through whom God works?
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 5:8 And it was [so], when Elisha the man of God had 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.
Ver. 8. Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? ] Knowest thou not that God doth both kill and make alive at the prayer of the faithful? Hoc peto et volo, et fiat voluntas mea, said Luther, praying for Miconius, a godly minister far gone in a deep consumption; and he recovered.
And he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
man of God. See App-49.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2Ki 5:8-9
2Ki 5:8-9
ELISHA HEARD OF THE KING’S ACTION AND OFFERED HELP
“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.”
“When the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes” (2Ki 5:8). Such an action on the part of the king would have at once enlisted the attention and concern of the whole city. The widespread gossip about the event reached the ears of Elisha, who at once sent an offer to the king proposing that Naaman be sent to him. Joram at once complied with Elisha’s request.
“So Naaman came … and stood at the door of the house of Elisha” (2Ki 5:9). At first glance, this seems to say that Naaman was standing at Elisha’s door, intending to be admitted to his house, but Naaman’s own words (2Ki 5:11) indicate that Naaman had merely driven up to the front of Elisha’s house, expecting the prophet to come out of his house and serve Naaman in his chariot. Thus it was Naaman and his impressive party, chariots, horses and all, that “stood at the door of the house.”
E.M. Zerr:
2Ki 5:8. Word of the affair came to the ears of Elisha. The humbleness of the man of God, as well as his respect for the Lord, was indicated by the message he sent to the king. He brought out the significant motive he had for seeking the chance to cure Naaman; that he might know there was a (inspired) prophet in Israel.
2Ki 5:9. The word was passed on to the unfortunate Naaman, and he arrived at the door of Elisha’s house, eager to have him administer to his stricken condition.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
rent his clothes: 2Ki 5:7, 2Sa 3:31
let him come: 2Ki 5:3, 2Ki 5:15, 2Ki 1:6, 1Ki 17:24, 1Ki 18:36, 1Ki 18:37
and he shall: Exo 11:8, Rom 11:13, Eze 2:5, Hos 12:13
Reciprocal: Lev 14:3 – be healed 2Ki 1:3 – it 2Ki 3:12 – Israel 2Ki 6:12 – Elisha 2Ch 6:32 – is come Eze 33:33 – shall Mat 8:4 – for Mat 9:33 – It Luk 9:41 – Bring
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 5:8. Elisha sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? There is no just occasion for thee to do so. Let him come now to me It was not for his own honour, but for the honour of God and his people, that he desires the leprous Syrian to be sent to him. And he shall know there is a prophet in Israel One who can do that which the king of Israel dares not attempt, and which the prophets of Syria cannot pretend to: and it were sad with Israel if there were not. As the word prophet commonly signifies a man who declares things which none could know but God, and those to whom he revealed them, so here it signifies a man endued with a divine power, and who thereby could do what no man could effect, unless God were with him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5:8 And it was [so], when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, {e} Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
(e) The prophet rebukes the king because he did not consider that God was true in his promise, and therefore would not leave his Church destitute of a prophet, whose prayers he would hear, and to whom others could have recourse for comfort.