2 Kings 5:2
in 2 Kings 5At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
KJV
And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
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This verse in 2 Kings 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd the Syrians had gone out by companies,.... Not regular troops, but a sort of banditti of robbers, which made excursions into the land of Israel, to plunder and carry off what booty they could: and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; for boys and girls were a part of the booty of such robbers, whom they could sell for money, see Joe 3:
This site's exposition
captain of the host of the king of Syria
on 2 Kings 5:1-3
Naaman is introduced with every mark of greatness a court could give, captain of Syria's army, honored by his master, credited with a victory the text says the Lord himself had given, and the report turns on one clause, but he was a leper. The healing that follows begins with the smallest voice in the house, a captive girl waiting on Naaman's wife, who has no name and no standing yet speaks the one true word anyone in the chapter has spoken so far. Jesus names Naaman directly at Luke 4:27, set beside the many lepers in Israel in Elisha's own day, a New Testament statement that mercy reached past Israel's border.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
27 ), yet this little maid, from the other miracles he had wrought, inferred that he could cure her master, and from his common beneficence inferred that he would do it, though he was a Syrian. Servants may be blessings to the families where they are, by telling what they know of the glory of God and the honour of his prophets.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The Syrians had gone out by companies - גדודים gedudim, troops. When one hundred or two hundred men go out by themselves to make prey of whatever they can get, that is called, says Jarchi, גדוד gedud, a troop. They had gone out in marauding parties; and on such occasions they bring away grain, cattle, and such of the inhabitants as are proper to make slaves. A little maid - Who, it appears, had pious parents, who brought her up in the knowledge of the true God.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
By this young Hebrew slave of his wife, Naaman's attention was directed to the prophet of Israel, as the person who would remove his leprosy. Naaman, on communicating the matter to his royal master, was immediately furnished with a letter to the king of Israel, and set out for Samaria, carrying with him, as an indispensable preliminary in the East, very costly presents.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
No peace had been made on the failure of Ahab’s expedition 1 Kings 22:1-36. The relations of the two countries therefore continued to be hostile, and plundering inroads naturally took place on the one side and on the other.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Na’amon the general. He goes on and lists the miracles that were performed through Elisha.
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲרָם֙ | vaaram | and Aram | H758 → | 143 times |
| יָצְא֣וּ | yatzeu | they had gone out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| גְדוּדִ֔ים | gedudim | marauding bands | H1416 → | 33 times |
| וַיִּשְׁבּ֛וּ | vaiyishbu | and they had taken captive | H7617 → | |
| מֵאֶ֥רֶץ | meeretz | from [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נַעֲרָ֣ה | naarah | a girl | H5291 → | |
| קְטַנָּ֑ה | ketanah | young | H6996 → | 101 times |
| וַתְּהִ֕י | vatehi | and she was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִפְנֵ֖י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֵ֥שֶׁת | ʾeshet | [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| נַעֲמָֽן׃ | naaman | Naaman | H5283 → | 16 times |
וַאֲרָם֙and Aram
vaaramH758 →143 times
יָצְא֣וּthey had gone out
yatzeuH3318 →1067 times
גְדוּדִ֔יםmarauding bands
gedudimH1416 →33 times
וַיִּשְׁבּ֛וּand they had taken captive
vaiyishbuH7617 →
מֵאֶ֥רֶץfrom [the] land of
meeretzH776 →2504 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
נַעֲרָ֣הa girl
naarahH5291 →
קְטַנָּ֑הyoung
ketanahH6996 →101 times
וַתְּהִ֕יand she was
vatehiH1961 →3559 times
לִפְנֵ֖י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
אֵ֥שֶׁת[the] wife of
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
נַעֲמָֽן׃Naaman
naamanH5283 →16 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
Psalms 123:2As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the LORD our God…
it leads to
- Psalms 130:5–6
I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.
- Lamentations 3:25–26
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- Psalms 25:15
My eyes are always on the LORD, for He will free my feet from the mesh.
- Psalms 40:1–3
I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.
- Genesis 49:18
I await Your salvation, O LORD.
- Psalms 130:5–6
Through
2 Kings 13:20And Elisha died and was buried. Now the Moabite raiders used to come into the land every spring.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 24:2
And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 24:2
Through
2 Kings 6:23So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come…
it leads to
- Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is…
- 2 Kings 6:8–9
Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”
- Luke 6:35
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About 2 Kings
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.