2 Kings 5:13

2Ki 5:13 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?

Ver. 13. And his servants came near, &c.] These were faithful servants indeed; not such Aiones and Negones as great men are now-a-days set up with, that - right or wrong - will say as they say, soothing them up in their sinful practices. It is a great happiness for a man to be attended with wise and faithful followers. Many a one hath had better counsel from his heels than from his elbows.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki_5:13

And his servants came near, and spake unto him.

Naaman, a type of the world

The Syrian Naaman, whose story is contained in the chapter from which our text is taken, was a type of the world. As race answereth to face in water, so the heart of man to man; and we cannot read this story without discovering in it the history of ourselves. It needs no argument to convince men that they are sinners, They all acknowledge it--at times with sorrow and grief. They feel the corruption of their own hearts, how incapable they are to live up to their own standard, much more to attain perfection. While they think they are still masters, they have became slaves, and sin holds them in an inexorable grasp; its chains are iron. You have all seen such a man, perhaps the intemperate, striving with tears and sighs against the evil that beggars his family and ruins himself, and alas! how often striving in vain. Then perhaps, when you have found how vain is human help, when you have learned by painful experience how true is that Scripture doctrine of man s inability to reform and save himself, you take up your Bible or you go to church, with the inquiry in your heart, if not on your lips, what must I do to be saved? Go, wash in Jordan seven times, is the reply you hear. Repent of your sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; use the means of grace God has placed in your hands, the sacraments and ordinances of the Church. Like Naaman, you are wroth, and go away. You thought surely the prophet would come out to you. You expected, or at least you wished, some miraculous call--that there might be some wonderful interposition of Providence on your behalf; that, like St. Paul, you might see a light from heaven or hear a voice; that, like Cornelius, you might see a vision, or, like the wife of Pilate, dream a dream. So doing, you would give the true reason of your present refusal and delay. You would answer the question of Naamans servants My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? Simply to wash and be clean, simply to repent and believe, to seek grace in the waters of baptism, or in the broken body and shed blood of their dying Lord, or in the laying on of hands, gives them no credit. It adds nothing to their glory; it undervalues, as they think, the Abana and Pharpar of their love. It mortifies their vanity and humbles their pride; for it shows them that, so long as they refuse to look at the brazen serpent or to step into the troubled pool, so long they are not only wretched, but helpless; so long must they be content to move on, great men and honourable it may be, but lepers still. It takes away all pretence for human merit; it is mercy and grace, and not a deserved gift. It robs the rivers of Damascus of their pretended virtue, and remits the world to that fountain in which alone Judah and Jerusalem may wash; which, taking its rise in the blood of the Cross, has extended its cleansing streams into all lands. It is offered freely and without price, and men refuse to purchase; it is the gift of grace, and they will not accept it. What we need is to realise the nature of our own hearts, and to feel that God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble, that obedience is better than sacrifice, and that the humble and contrite spirit is with God of greater price than the rivers of Damascus, or all that the wit of man can devise. (G. F. Cushman, D. D.)

Relation between master and servants

Naaman must have been a considerate master, and his servants must have been reliable men, or that sensible and timely remonstrance of theirs would have been impossible. It implied friendly relations on both sides. Among the ruins of ancient Rome was discovered not long since a broken urn containing some half-burned bones. They were really the ashes of one who, as appeared from the inscription on the tablet, had belonged to the Imperial Household, and whose virtues as a faithful, honest, and devoted servant the emperor himself had taken means to record. Near the grey metropolis of the North is a cemetery, where can be seen a monumental stone, erected by the late Queen Victoria to the memory of an attached and honoured domestic. The gifted John Ruskin once wrote: There is no surer test of the quality of a nation than the quality of its servants

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 5:13. His servants came near–Though at other times they kept their distance, and now saw him in a passion, yet knowing him to be a man that would hear reason at any time, and from any one, they drew near, and made bold to argue the matter with him. Happy they who have such servants as these, who both had the courage to speak the truth, and prudence to order their speech with skill, submission, and reverence. My father — Or, our father; a title of honour in that country, and a name by which they called their lords, as kings are called the fathers of their people. They use it to show their reverence and affection for him. If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing — Had ordered thee into a tedious course of physic, or enjoined thee to submit to some painful operation, suppose blistering, or cupping, or salivating, wouldst thou not have done it? No doubt thou wouldst. And wilt thou not submit to so easy a method as this, Wash and be clean? It appears they had conceived a great opinion of the prophet, having probably heard more of him from the common people, whom they had conversed with, than Naaman had from the king and courtiers.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:13-14 Naaman swallowed his pride. He did as the man of God had instructed him and experienced God’s healing power. Obedience to God brings God’s blessings and purity (Ps 119:9-11).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This declareth that servants ought to reverence and love their masters as children their fathers, and likewise masters toward their servants, must be affectioned as toward their children.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 13. My father] A title of the highest respect and affection.

Had bid thee do some great thing] If the prophet had appointed thee to do something very difficult in itself, and very expensive to thee, wouldst thou not have done it? With much greater reason shouldst thou do what will occupy little time, be no expense, and is easy to be performed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) Came near.—Comp. Gen_18:23.

My father.—A title implying at once respect and affection. (Comp. 1Sa_24:11; 2Ki_6:21.) Perhaps, however, the word is a corruption of ’im (“if”), which is otherwise not expressed in the Hebrew.

Great thing.—Emphatic in the Hebrew.

Wouldest thou not have done?—Or,wouldest thou not do?

He saith.—He hath said.

Be clean?—i.e., thou shalt be clean: a common Hebrew idiom.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. his servants came near] As the chief ministers of the king are called ‘servants’ though they probably are of distinguished rank; so the servants of Naaman were probably persons nearly his equals in everything except reputation, and so they could come and speak freely to him, without fear of giving offence.

My father] One of them of course was spokesman for the rest. There is no other instance where servants address their master in such terms. Elisha’s exclamation when Elijah was taken away from him does not come into comparison. Joseph says (Gen_45:8) that God has made him a father to Pharaoh, but this is not quite the same sort of relationship. The word however, which because it is unusual some have endeavoured to explain as a corruption, indicates the affectionate relations which existed between Naaman and those about him, and prepares us for his ready listening to their persuasion.

some great thing] They are thinking perhaps of some deed of prowess, befitting the ‘mighty man of valour’, or some fatiguing journey by way of pilgrimage.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And his servant came near, and spake unto him, and said, my father,.... Or my lord, as the Targum; this being not a familiar and affectionate expression, but a term of honour, reverence, and submission:

if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? something that was hard and difficult to done, or painful to bear, to go through some severe operation, or disagreeable course of physic:

how much rather then when he saith to thee, wash, and be clean? which is so easy to be done; though Abarbinel observes it may be interpreted, the prophet has bid thee do a great thing, and which is wonderful; for though he has said, wash and be clean, consider it a great thing, and which is a wonderful mystery, and therefore do not despise his cure.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Father; a title given to masters, kings, &c. The Romans senators were styled, "conscript fathers;" and Homer calls kings "the fathers and shepherds of the people." See Genesis xlv. 8. (Calmet) --- Masters may often derive benefit from the observations of their servants, as Naaman did repeatedly, ver. 2. This may serve to correct their pride. (Haydock) --- Clean. The patient ought not to prescribe rules to his physician. (Menochius) --- How justly might these words be addressed to delicate penitents! (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

My father; or, our father; so they call him, both to show their reverence and affection to him, and to mitigate his exasperated mind.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. My father — A form of address peculiar to an intimate and confidential servant, who might have great power over his master.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father. Naaman"s attendants did not share his indignation, or, if they did, since servants in the East are apt to be jealous of their masters" honor, had their feelings more under control; and they therefore inter-feted with mild words, anxious to pacify him, and persuade him to follow the prophet"s advice. "My father" is a deferential and, at the same time, an affectionate address, not unnatural in the mouth of a confidential servant. (2Ki_2:12) There is thus no need of any alteration of the text, such as Ewald (wOl for ybia) or Thenius ( for ybia) proposes. It must be admitted, however, that the LXX seem to have had wOl in their copies. If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing set thee," i.e. , "some difficult taskwouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, shouldest thou perform his behest when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? The reasoning was unanswerable, and took effect. Naaman was persuaded.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

My father - Or, our father. So they call him, to shew their reverence and affection to him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

My father

The servants were showing respect to Naaman by addressing him as "my father" or "sir."

would you not have done it?

The servant uses this question to carefully rebuke Naaman. AT: "you surely would have done it!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

How much rather then

The servant is comparing how much more willing Naaman should be to obey a simple command since he is willing to obey a difficult one. AT: "How much more willing you should be to obey" or "Should you not be even more willing to obey" (See: Ellipsis)

How much rather then, when he says to you to simply, 'Dip yourself and be clean?

The servant uses this rhetorical question to emphasize to Naaman that he should obey Elisha's command. This question can be written as statement. AT: "You should be even more willing to obey when he says to you simply, 'Dip yourself and be clean.'" (See: Rhetorical Question)

the man of God

"Elisha, the man of God"

His flesh was restored again like the flesh of a little child

This speaks how smooth Namaan's skin is after he is healed by comparing it to the skin of a young child. AT: "His flesh was restored again and was as soft as the flesh of a young child" or "His skin was well again and was smooth like a young child's skin" (See: Simile)

His flesh

"His skin"

he was healed

This can be stated in active form. AT: "his leprosy was gone" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

servant

command

Jordan River

obey

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

“My father [master].” אָבִי [lit., my father, means] the same as אֲדוֹנִי [=my master].

Would you not do it? Wouldn’t you do it, even if he told you to do something requiring exertion?

Certainly since. By a fortiori conclusion, for he said to you [to do] an easy thing, “immerse yourself and become clean.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.