Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 5:17
And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, 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.
17. And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given ] R.V. If not, yet I pray thee, let there be given. The reason for the variation lies in a comprehension of the grammatical force of the Hebrew. There is no mark of interrogation in the verse, but neither is there any word for ‘if’ which the R.V. gives. But the Hebrew can express a hypothetical clause without the insertion of any such particle. Literally the original has ‘And Naaman said, and not’ &c. by which is meant ‘and if not &c.’, i.e. ‘if it may not be as I wish, and you will not receive a present, yet &c.’ Thus in Gen 44:22 the literal rendering is ‘and he leaves his father, and he will die’, which the A.V. rightly represents by ‘for if he leave he will die’. And more like the present example is 2Sa 13:26, where David has objected to Absalom’s too liberal invitation, ‘And Absalom said, and not [i.e. and if it may not be] yet let my brother Amnon go with us’. The LXX. renders rightly .
two mules’ burden of earth ] Naaman still has no notion of Jehovah but as a territorial deity. He thinks therefore that by carrying with him a quantity of the soil of Israel, he may provide a place for acceptable sacrifice to Him in his country of Syria. It was holy ground and would sanctify all that it came near.
will henceforth offer neither burnt offering ] The other so-called gods are worth nothing. This much he has learnt, and so he will himself pay them no homage. But it would be too hard a thing to expect from so new a convert strength enough to become a witness for Jehovah. Hence his petition to God, to which Elisha gives a merciful answer.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Two mules burden of earth – This earth, Naaman thought, spread over a portion of Syrian ground, would hallow and render it suitable for the worship of Yahweh.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. Shall there not then, I pray thee] This verse is understood two different ways. I will give them both in a paraphrase: –
1. Shall there not then be given unto thy servant [viz., Naaman] two mules’ burden of this Israelitish earth, that I may build an altar with it, on which I may offer sacrifices to the God of Israel? For thy servant, c.
2. Shall there not be given to thy [Elisha’s] servant [Gehazi] two mules’ burden of this earth? i.e., the gold and silver which he brought with him and which he esteemed as earth, or dust, in comparison of the cure he received. For thy servant [Naaman] will henceforth, c.
Each of these interpretations has its difficulties. Why Naaman should ask for two mules’ burden of earth, which he might have taken up any where on the confines of the land, without any such liberty, is not easy to see. As to the prophet’s permission, though the boon was ever so small, it was not his to give only the king of Israel could give such a permission: and what sort of an altar could he build with two mules’ burden of earth, carried from Samaria to Damascus? If this be really the meaning of the place, the request was exceedingly foolish, and never could have come from a person enjoying the right use of his reason. The second opinion, not without its difficulties, seems less embarrassed than the former. It was natural for Naaman to wish to give something to the prophet’s servant, as the master had refused his present. Again, impressed with the vast importance of the cure he had received, to take away all feeling of obligation, he might call two or ten talents of silver by the name of earth, as well as Habakkuk, Hab 2:6, calls silver and gold thick clay; and by terms of this kind it has been frequently denominated, both by prophets and heathen writers: “Tyrus heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets;” Zec 9:3. And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as stones; 2Ch 1:15. Which is agreeable to the sentiments of the heathen: , , Gold and silver are only a certain kind of earth. – ARIST. Eth. Nicomach.
Should it be said, The gold and silver could not be two mules’ burden; I answer, Let the quantity that Naaman brought with him be only considered, and it will be found to be as much, when put into two bags, as could be well lifted upon the backs of two mules, or as those beasts could conveniently carry. The silver itself would weigh 233lbs. 9oz. 15 1/2dwts., and the gold 1,140lbs. 7oz. 10dwts.; in the whole 1,3741bs. 5oz. 5 1/2dwts. Troy weight. Should it be objected that, taken in this sense, there is no visible connection between the former and latter clauses of the verse, I answer that there is as much connection between the words taken in this sense as in the other, for something must be brought in to supply both; besides, this makes a more complete sense than the other: “Shall there not, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of this silver and gold, [to apply it as he may think proper; I regard it not,] for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, [for the cure he has now received; or by way of worship at any time;] but unto Jehovah.” The reader may choose which of these interpretations he pleases.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Two mules burden of earth; wherewith I may make an altar of earth, as was usual, Exo 20:24. He desires the earth of this land, because he thought it more holy and acceptable to God, and proper for his service; or because he would by this token profess and declare his conjunction with the Israelites in the worship of God, and constantly put himself in mind of his great obligations to that God from whose land this was taken. And though he might freely have taken this earth without asking any leave, yet he rather desires it from the prophets gift, as believing that he who had put so great a virtue into the waters of Israel, could put as much into the earth of Israel, and make it as useful and beneficial to him in a better way. And these thoughts, though extravagant and groundless, yet were excusable in a heathen and a novice, who was not yet thoroughly instructed in the true religion.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. two mules’ burden of earthwithwhich to make an altar (Ex 20:24)to the God of Israel. What his motive or his purpose was in thisproposalwhether he thought that God could be acceptably worshippedonly on his own soil; or whether he wished, when far away fromthe Jordan, to have the earth of Palestine to rub himselfwith, which the Orientals use as a substitute for water; or whether,by making such a request of Elisha, he thought the prophet’s grant ofit would impart some virtue; or whether, like the modern Jews andMohammedans, he resolved to have a portion of this holy earthfor his nightly pillowit is not easy to say. It is not strange tofind such notions in so newly a converted heathen.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Naaman said, shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth….. Not that he desired of Elisha that he would suffer his servant Gehazi to receive a present as much as two mules could carry; but inasmuch as the prophet refused a present from him, his servant, he asks a favour of him, that he would permit him to take with him, out of the land of Israel, as much earth two mules could carry, that is, to make an altar of earth, as the next words indicate: but as he might have this any where without the prophet’s leave, some Jewish writers o think he requested it from his own house, and from the place his feet trod on, as conceiving in a superstitious way that there was a sort of holiness in it; or however, that wheresoever he had it, if with the prophet’s leave, a blessing would go with it, or that would be a sort of a consecration of it; and having an altar made of the earth of this land, would show that he was in the faith of the same God, and performed the same worship to him Israel did:
for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord: hence the Jews say, he became a proselyte of righteousness p, embraced the true religion, and the worship of the true God, according to the laws given to Israel; and the following words, rightly understood, confirm the same.
o Ben Gersom & Abarbinel in loc. p Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(17) Shall there not then.Rather, If not, let there be given, I pray thee. LXX., .
Two mules burden of earth?Literally, a load of a yoke of mules (in) earth. It was natural for Naaman, with his local idea of divinity, to make this request. He wished to worship the God of Israel, so far as possible, on the soil of Israel, Jehovahs own land. He would therefore build his altar to Jehovah on a foundation of this earth, or construct the altar itself therewith. (Comp. Exo. 20:24; 1Ki. 18:38.)
Burnt offering nor sacrifice.Burnt offering nor peace offering.
Offer.Literally, make.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Two mules’ burden of earth Though convinced that there was no God in all the earth but in Israel, (2Ki 5:15,) he could not yet divest himself of the polytheistic notion that each land had its particular divinity, who could be appropriately worshipped only on his own soil. 1Ki 20:23. He therefore wished to carry home with him a part of the sacred soil of Israel, not merely for the purpose of building an altar with it, though this may have been a part of his plan, but also that he might spread it out near his own home and worship Jehovah on it there. He would thus, though in Syria, be worshipping on Israelitish soil, and he supposed that his devotions would for that reason be more acceptable to the God of Israel. This thought is illustrated by the reverence Mohammedans have for the soil of sacred localities. “To the Mohammedans at the present day,” says Kitto, “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.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 5:17. Two mules burden of earth He desired the earth of the land, because he thought it more holy and acceptable to God, and proper for his service; or that because by this token he would declare his conjunction with the people of Israel in the true worship, and constantly put himself in mind of his great obligation to that God from whose land this earth was given. He might, indeed, have had enough of this earth without asking any one for it; but he desired the prophet to give it him, as believing, perhaps, that he who put such virtue into the waters of Israel, could put as much into the earth thereof, and make it as useful and beneficial to him in another way. These thoughts indeed were groundless and extravagant, but excusable in a heathen and a novice, not yet sufficiently instructed in the true religion.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ki 5:17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, 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.
Ver. 17. Two mules’ burden of earth.] Not to put under his feet when he stood in the house of Rimmon, as some have fondly conceited, but for an altar whereon to offer sacrifice, as himself showeth, and therewithal his zeal without knowledge, which is ordinary in new converts. As nature, so grace riseth by many degrees to perfection. Naaman’s leprosy was cured at once: not so his corruption.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
earth = soil. Naaman may have heard of Exo 20:24.
offer = prepare. See App-43.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
of earth: 2Ki 5:12, Rom 14:1
will henceforth: Act 26:18, 1Th 1:9, 1Pe 4:3
Reciprocal: Gen 28:21 – then 1Ki 8:41 – cometh out Jon 1:16 – offered Rom 6:6 – that henceforth 2Co 5:15 – henceforth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 5:17. Two mules burden of earth Wherewith I may make an altar of earth, as was usual, Exo 20:24. He desires the earth of this land, because he thought it more holy and acceptable to God, and proper for his service; or because he would, by this token, profess and declare his conjunction with the Israelites in the worship of God, and constantly put himself in mind of his great obligation to that God, from whose land this was taken: and though he might freely have taken this earth without asking any leave, yet he rather desires it from the prophets gift, as believing that he, who had put so great a virtue into the waters of Israel, could put as much into the earth of Israel, and make it as useful and beneficial to him in a better way. And these thoughts, though extravagant and groundless, yet were excusable in a heathen and a novice, who was not yet thoroughly instructed in true religion.