2 Kings 5:12
in 2 Kings 5Are not the Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not have washed in them and been cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
Are not Abana and Pharpar, 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.
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This verse in 2 Kings 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAre not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?.... Abana is, in the marginal reading, called Amana, and so the Targum; perhaps from the Mount Amana, from whence it sprung, a mountain in Syria (g), mentioned with Lebanon, Son 4:
This site's exposition
Naaman was wroth
on 2 Kings 5:11-12
Naaman had built the scene in his own head, a prophet standing over him, calling on the name of the Lord his God, waving a hand over the sore, and Elisha's silence and absence insult the picture he had made. His question about Abana and Pharpar measures Damascus against Israel by the wrong standard, water against water, when the difference lies entirely in the word he was given and refused. He turns away in a rage from the one instruction that could heal him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.242-45 · Written before 253.
proposed
But that we may receive the right interpretation about this Jordan, so good to drink, so full of grace, it may be of use to compare the cleansing of Naaman the Syrian from his leprosy, and what is said of the rivers of religion of the enemies of Israel. It is recorded of Naaman that he came with horse and chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall come again unto thee, and thou shalt be cleansed."
Let us further see what blessed Elisha commanded Naaman the Syrian. "Go," he says, "and wash seven times in the Jordan." When Naaman heard that he was to wash seven times in the Jordan, he was indignant and did not want to comply, but accepting …
Naaman was suffering from leprosy, and when he heard that a prophet who lived under the command of Jehoram, king of Israel, could cure him, he left and proceeded to the country of the healer and went to the house of Elisha, because he had …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
) now is in another extreme, and over-values the earth of Israel, supposing (since God has appointed altars of earth, Exod. xx. 24 ) that an altar of that earth would be most acceptable to him, not considering that all the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Are not, &c. - Is there not as great a virtue in them to this purpose? But he should have considered, that the cure was not to be wrought by the water, but by the power of God.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Are not Abana and Pharpar - At present these rivers do not exist by these names; and where they are we know not; nor whether they were the Orontes and Chrysorroes. Mr. Maundrell, who traveled over all this ground, could find no vestige of the names Abana and Pharpar.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Abana and Pharpar--the Barrady and one of its five tributaries--uncertain which. The waters of Damascus are still highly extolled by their inhabitants for their purity and coldness.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, . . . let him come now to me--This was the grand and ultimate object to which, in the providence of God, the journey of Naaman was subservient.
quarantine:debris,scripture (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase; scripture-overlap:84%@v6-8
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Abana is the Barada, or true river of Damascus, which, rising in the anti-Libanus, flows westward from its foot and forms the oasis within which Damascus is placed. The Pharpar is usually identified with the Awaaj. Naaman thinks that, if washing is to cure him, his own rivers may serve the purpose. Their water was brighter, clearer, and colder than that of Jordan.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“Behold, I thought.” I thought the prophet would come out and speak with me, and see the ailment.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲלֹ֡א | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| טוֹב֩ | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| אֲמָנָ֨ה | ʾavanah | [are] Amana | H549 → | |
| וּפַרְפַּ֜ר | ufarpar | and Pharpar | H6554 → | |
| נַהֲר֣וֹת | naharot | [the] rivers of | H5104 → | 119 times |
| דַּמֶּ֗שֶׂק | damesek | Damascus | H1834 → | 45 times |
| מִכֹּל֙ | mikol | more than all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מֵימֵ֣י | meimei | [the] waters of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הֲלֹֽא־ | halo'- | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶרְחַ֥ץ | ʾerchatz | will I wash | H7364 → | 72 times |
| בָּהֶ֖ם | bahem | in them | ||
| וְטָהָ֑רְתִּי | vetahareti | and I will be clean | H2891 → | 94 times |
| וַיִּ֖פֶן | vaiyifen | and he turned | H6437 → | 135 times |
| וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בְּחֵמָֽה׃ | bechemah | in a rage | H2534 → | 125 times |
הֲלֹ֡א¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
טוֹב֩good
tovH2896 →538 times
אֲמָנָ֨ה[are] Amana
ʾavanahH549 →
וּפַרְפַּ֜רand Pharpar
ufarparH6554 →
נַהֲר֣וֹת[the] rivers of
naharotH5104 →119 times
דַּמֶּ֗שֶׂקDamascus
damesekH1834 →45 times
מִכֹּל֙more than all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
מֵימֵ֣י[the] waters of
meimeiH4325 →581 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הֲלֹֽא־¿ not
halo'-H3808 →5168 times
אֶרְחַ֥ץwill I wash
ʾerchatzH7364 →72 times
בָּהֶ֖םin them
bahem
וְטָהָ֑רְתִּיand I will be clean
vetaharetiH2891 →94 times
וַיִּ֖פֶןand he turned
vaiyifenH6437 →135 times
וַיֵּ֥לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
בְּחֵמָֽה׃in a rage
bechemahH2534 →125 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 19:11A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.
it leads to
- Proverbs 14:29
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 1:19
My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 16:32
He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.
- Colossians 3:12–13
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
- Proverbs 14:29
Through
Proverbs 14:17A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a devious man is hated.
it leads to
- Proverbs 29:22
An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
- Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
- Proverbs 29:22
Through
2 Kings 2:8And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 19:19
So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.
- 1 Kings 19:19
Where this verse is studied
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About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 129.4-5; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 5:10-11; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.242-45.