2 Kings 5:17
in 2 Kings 5“If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much soil as a pair of mules can carry. For your servant will never again make a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any other god but the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Naaman said, If not, yet, I pray thee, let there 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 Jehovah.
KJV
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.
⋯
This verse in 2 Kings 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseNaaman the Aramean asked for some dust from the promised land in order to cause the shame of Israel, as I think, so that they might be ashamed that a stranger believed that even the dust of their land was filled with God, while the …
This site's exposition
as much soil as a pair of mules can carry
Naaman asks to take Israelite soil home, reasoning that sacrifice belongs to the Lord and so cannot rightly be offered from foreign ground, a conviction the text records without Elisha correcting or approving it. The request assumes a link between a god and his land common across the ancient world, and the commentators read it as Naaman's imperfect but sincere first theology rather than as instruction the chapter endorses.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It was a happy cure of his leprosy which cured him of his idolatry, a more dangerous disease. But here are two instances of his weakness and infirmity in his conversion:-- 1. In one instance he over-did it, that he would not only worship the God of Israel, but he would have clods of earth out of the prophet's garden, or at least of the prophet's ordering, to make an altar of,
And Naaman said, shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth.....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
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, etc. 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, etc. 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. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I will not accept. Because monies pertaining to idols are included in it.
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
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמֶר֮ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נַעֲמָן֒ | naaman | Naaman | H5283 → | 16 times |
| וָלֹ֕א | valo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֻתַּן־ | yutan- | let it be given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| נָ֣א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| לְעַבְדְּךָ֔ | leavdekha | to servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| מַשָּׂ֥א | masa' | [the] load of | H4853 → | 66 times |
| צֶֽמֶד־ | tzemed- | a pair of | H6776 → | |
| פְּרָדִ֖ים | peradim | mules | H6505 → | |
| אֲדָמָ֑ה | ʾadamah | earth | H127 → | 225 times |
| כִּ֡י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֽוֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲשֶׂה֩ | yaaseh | he will offer | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| ע֨וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֜ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| עֹלָ֤ה | ʾolah | burnt offering | H5930 → | 287 times |
| וָזֶ֙בַח֙ | vazevach | and sacrifice | H2077 → | 162 times |
| לֵאלֹהִ֣ים | lelohim | to gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֔ים | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לַיהוָֽה׃ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיֹּאמֶר֮and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
נַעֲמָן֒Naaman
naamanH5283 →16 times
וָלֹ֕אand not
valo'H3808 →5168 times
יֻתַּן־let it be given
yutan-H5414 →2011 times
נָ֣אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
לְעַבְדְּךָ֔to servant your
leavdekhaH5650 →799 times
מַשָּׂ֥א[the] load of
masa'H4853 →66 times
צֶֽמֶד־a pair of
tzemed-H6776 →
פְּרָדִ֖יםmules
peradimH6505 →
אֲדָמָ֑הearth
ʾadamahH127 →225 times
כִּ֡יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֽוֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲשֶׂה֩he will offer
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
ע֨וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
עַבְדְּךָ֜servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
עֹלָ֤הburnt offering
ʾolahH5930 →287 times
וָזֶ֙בַח֙and sacrifice
vazevachH2077 →162 times
לֵאלֹהִ֣יםto gods
lelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִ֔יםother
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
כִּ֖יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לַיהוָֽה׃to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 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
Acts 26:18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- Ephesians 1:18
I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
- Acts 20:32
And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.
- Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- 1 Peter 2:9
Through
Exodus 20:24You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:5
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Psalms 132:13–14
For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
- 2 Chronicles 6:6
But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
- Deuteronomy 12:5
Through
Romans 14:1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.
it leads to
- Romans 15:1
We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
- Romans 15:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 5:17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.