Elisha and Naaman the Syrian
Naaman had very fixed ideas about what it takes to get a miracle.
850 BC
Naaman had very fixed ideas about what it takes to get a miracle.
850 BC
Joram was King of Israel (i.e. the ten northern tribes) in the middle of the ninth century BC.
NAAMAN, a captain in the service of Ben-Hadad II, King of Syria, suffered from leprosy.
Naaman’s wife had a Jewish maid, and one day she remarked that if only the prophet Elisha were here, Naaman would be better in no time.
So the King himself wrote to Joram, the King of Israel, asking politely for a miracle. At first, Joram thought the impossible request was a pretext for war. But Elisha quickly sent word that all Naaman had to do was wash seven times in the Jordan.
The Captain, who had been expecting Elisha to come in person and make long prayers, was inclined to resent this remedy. After all, what was wrong with the rivers of Syria? But his servants persuaded him, and the Jordan gave him skin like a baby’s.
Naaman now gladly took Israel’s God for his own, and Elisha thoughtfully allowed him to continue waiting on the Syrian king, even during his pagan rites.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why was Joram suspicious of Ben-Hadad’s request?