Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 5:19
And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
19. Go in peace ] We are not to consider this answer as implying that service of God and service of Rimmon might be combined without any incongruity. The prophet appears rather to be willing to leave the good seed already sown to bear fruit in due season. Being sown of God it must fructify, and peace would be the result of its further development.
a little way ] The expression literally signifying ‘a length of country’ is very indefinite. It is found only here and in Gen 35:16; Gen 48:7. We may estimate its length roughly by considering how far Gehazi could have gone if he had to overtake a mounted cavalcade. It could not be very far.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
So he departed … – This clause should not be separated from the succeeding verse. The meaning is, So he departed from him, and had gone a little way, when Gehazi bethought himself of what he would do, and followed after him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. And he said unto him] There is a most singular and important reading in one of De Rossi’s MSS., which he numbers 191. It has in the margin that is, “read lo, not, instead of lo, to him.” Now this reading supposes that Naaman did ask permission from the prophet to worship in Rimmon’s temple; to which the prophet answers, No; go in peace: that is, maintain thy holy resolutions, be a consistent worshipper of the true God, and avoid all idolatrous practices. Another MS., No. 383, appears first to have written to him, but to have corrected it immediately by inserting an aleph after the vau; and thus, instead of making it no, it has made it lu, which is no word.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Go in peace: these words may contain an answer, either, first, To his last petition, 2Ki 5:18; and so the sense may be this, Be not too solicitous about this matter; go, and the peace or blessing of God go along with thee. So the prophet both prays to God to bless and direct him in this and all other things, and intimates that God would do so. Or, secondly, To the former, 2Ki 5:17; Trouble not thyself about any of our earth, but go to thy own land, and I wish thee from God, and doubt not but God will give thee, peace, i.e. his favour and other blessings, which are oft contained in this word, if thou dost persist in this religion which thou hast now received. Or rather, this is only a farewell salutation, wherewith the prophet dismisseth him without any further answer to his requests, or instruction about his doubt; which he forbore by the motion of Gods Spirit, which sometimes gives and sometimes denies instructions to persons or people, as he thinks fit. See Act 16:6,7. And the prophet by the Spirits direction might forbear to give him particular answers, partly because these matters were not of such importance as to concern the essence or foundation of religion; and partly because he was yet but a novice, and not able to bear all truths, which was for a time the condition of the apostles, Joh 16:12, nor fit to be pressed to the practice of the hardest duties, which Christ himself thought not convenient for his disciples; Mat 9:14-17. And therefore he at present accepts of his profession of the true, and his renunciation of the false religion; and of this declaration, that what he did in the temple of Rimmon should not now be (as he had formerly intended and practised it) a religious action towards the idol, but only a civil respect to his master. And what was necessary for him to know further about the lawfulness or sinfulness of that action, the prophet might take another and a more convenient time to inform him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said unto him,…. That is, the prophet said to Naaman:
go in peace: in peace of mind; be assured that God has pardoned this and all other transgressions:
so he departed from him a little way; about a mile, as the Targum, and so other Jewish writers; of this phrase, [See comments on Ge 35:16], some say a land’s length, that is, about one hundred and twenty feet; rather it was a thousand cubits, or half a mile.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(19) A little way.Heb., a kibrh of ground (Gen. 35:16). It seems to mean a length of ground, a certain distance, without defining exactly how far. Had it been a parasang, as the Syriac renders, Gehazi could not have overtaken the company so easily.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Go in peace The prophet neither approves nor disapproves what Naaman says. He simply bids him farewell, without expressing any judgment on the sentiments he had uttered. He doubtless had wise reasons for this course of action towards him. To have sought to correct all Naaman’s erroneous notions might have led Elisha too far aside from his proper work in Israel, and might also have imposed on the Syrian captain obligations which he had no power to meet, and which, under his peculiar circumstances, might as well remain unknown to him. Elisha, therefore, wisely leaving him to the spiritual guidance of the Almighty, bids him depart in peace.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 5:19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
Ver. 19. Go in peace. ] A friendly dismission, or as some will have it, a dilatory answer – q.d., Go thy way, trouble not thyself with points of this nature, the resolution whereof thou, being a babe as yet, art uncapable of. Content thyself with the benefit which thou hast already received. I hope the Lord will so direct thee that thou shalt not offend him in any such way. Valentinian would not attend upon Julian the emperor into the idol temple, and smote the priest that sprinkled him with holy water. So the Duke of Saxony and the other Protestant princes are much commended for this, that at the Imperial Diet, about religion, they went only to the church door with Charles V, Emperor, going to mass, but would not enter in with him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Go in peace. God’s servants are not “directors of conscience”, but ministers of His Word. To have sanctioned it would have recognized idolatry. To have forbidden it would have put Naaman under a yoke to Elisha. It was for Naaman to decide whether he could do this thing, and be at “peace”.
a little way. A phrase found only here and Gen 35:16 with Gen 48:7. = a stone’s throw.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he said: Mat 9:16, Mat 9:17, Joh 16:12, 1Co 3:2, Heb 5:13, Heb 5:14
Go in peace: Exo 4:18, 1Sa 1:17, 1Sa 25:35, Mar 5:34, Luk 7:50, Luk 8:48
little way: Heb. a little piece of ground, Gen 35:16, *marg.
Reciprocal: Act 16:36 – and go
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:19 And he said unto him, {k} Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
(k) The prophet did not approve his act, but after the common manner of speech he bids him farewell.