2 Kings 5:27
in 2 Kings 5Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
KJV
The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
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This verse in 2 Kings 5
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe leprosy of Naaman - shall cleave unto thee - Thou hast got much money, and thou shalt have much to do with it. Thou hast got Naaman’s silver, and thou shalt have Naaman’s leprosy. Gehazi is not the last who has got money in an unlawful way, and has got God’s curse with it. A leper as white as snow - The moment the curse was pronounced, that moment the signs of the leprosy began to appear. The white shining spot was the sign that the infection had taken place.
This site's exposition
Whence comest thou, Gehazi
on 2 Kings 5:25-27
Elisha's question exposes a lie already prepared, thy servant went no whither, and Elisha answers that his heart went with Gehazi in spirit to the meeting the servant thought private. The leprosy Naaman left behind in Jordan falls on Gehazi and his seed forever, the same disease moving from the Syrian who received grace freely to the Israelite who tried to sell it. A chapter that opened with a captive girl's free word closes with a greedy servant's own words condemning him, the two servants framing Naaman's story on both ends.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
After Gehazi had come back from his meeting with Naaman, he entered Elisha's house, and [the prophet] asked him, according to custom, why he had moved away from him. "Where do you come from?" he said to Gehazi. He said this on purpose, so that …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Such cupidity must be tamed by munificence, which includes generosity and magnificence. It is the fountain which pours out water: for the fountain does not keep water within. According to the Philosopher, it is hard to be completely cured from cupidity, for cupidity is delightful …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For ever - That is, for some generations; as that word is often used and as may be thought by comparing this with Exod. xx, 55. (?) White - Which is the worst kind of leprosy, and noted by physicians to be incurable.
He was contriving to entail lands upon his posterity; but, instead of them, he entails a loathsome disease on the heirs of his body, from generation to generation. The sentence was immediately executed on himself; no sooner said than done: He went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the L ORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
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2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever,.... As long as any of his race remained; as through his covetousness he had his money, so for his punishment he should have his disease: and he went out from his presence; as one ashamed and confounded, and discharged from his master's service: a leper as white as snow; a leprosy of which colour is the worst, and is incurable.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
leper as white as snow--(See on Le 13:3). This heavy infliction was not too severe for the crime of Gehazi. For it was not the covetousness alone that was punished; but, at the same time, it was the ill use made of the prophet's name to gain an object prompted by a mean covetousness, and the attempt to conceal it by lying [KEIL].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְצָרַ֤עַת | vetzaraat | and [the] skin disease of | H6883 → | 35 times |
| נַֽעֲמָן֙ | naaman | Naaman | H5283 → | 16 times |
| תִּֽדְבַּק־ | tidbak- | it will cling | H1692 → | 54 times |
| בְּךָ֔ | bekha | to you | ||
| וּֽבְזַרְעֲךָ | uvezarakha | and to offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֑ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | |
| וַיֵּצֵ֥א | vaiyetze' | and he went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִלְּפָנָ֖יו | milefanav | from to before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מְצֹרָ֥ע | metzora' | having a skin disease | H6879 → | 20 times |
| כַּשָּֽׁלֶג׃ ס | kashaleg | like <the> snow | H7950 → |
וְצָרַ֤עַתand [the] skin disease of
vetzaraatH6883 →35 times
נַֽעֲמָן֙Naaman
naamanH5283 →16 times
תִּֽדְבַּק־it will cling
tidbak-H1692 →54 times
בְּךָ֔to you
bekha
וּֽבְזַרְעֲךָand to offspring your
uvezarakhaH2233 →229 times
לְעוֹלָ֑םfor ever
leolamH5769 →
וַיֵּצֵ֥אand he went out
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
מִלְּפָנָ֖יוfrom to before him
milefanavH6440 →2123 times
מְצֹרָ֥עhaving a skin disease
metzora'H6879 →20 times
כַּשָּֽׁלֶג׃ סlike <the> snow
kashalegH7950 →
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
Exodus 4:6Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.
it leads to
- Numbers 12:10
As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 12:10
Through
Numbers 12:10As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 24:9
Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the journey after you came out of Egypt.
- 2 Chronicles 26:19–21
Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy…
- Exodus 4:6
Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.
- Deuteronomy 24:9
Through
Joshua 7:25“Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies.
it leads to
- Joshua 6:18
But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and…
- 1 Chronicles 2:7
The son of Carmi: Achar, who brought trouble upon Israel by violating the ban on devoted things.
- Deuteronomy 17:5
you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death.
- Joshua 6:18
Through
2 Kings 15:5And the LORD afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, so that he lived in a separate house while his son Jotham had charge of the palace and governed the people…
it leads to
- Leviticus 13:46
As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.
- Leviticus 13:46
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 5:27; 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; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.