2 Kings · 27 verses
2 Kings 5
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The mighty commander’s cure begins with a captive girl from Israel, serving in his house, who knows where a prophet may be found.
A letter arrives with rather too much luggagevv. 1–8
Naaman is honoured by the king of Aram, successful in war, and afflicted with leprosy. A young girl taken from Israel tells Naaman’s wife about the prophet in Samaria, and Naaman’s king sends him with a letter, silver, gold, clothing, and a royal misunderstanding: the king of Israel is expected to cure him. Elisha hears of the torn clothes and sends word that Naaman should come to him.
Seven dips and no prophetic performancevv. 9–19
Naaman arrives at Elisha’s house with horses and chariots, but Elisha remains indoors and sends a messenger to prescribe seven washes in the Jordan. Naaman is furious that the Jordan has been chosen over the rivers of Damascus and that no grand gesture has occurred. His servants persuade him to try the small instruction, and his flesh is restored. He returns declaring that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel, but Elisha refuses every gift. Naaman asks instead for soil, and speaks of the awkwardness awaiting him when his master worships in the temple of Rimmon.
Gehazi goes nowhere, carrying two talentsvv. 20–27
After Naaman has gone, Gehazi decides that his master has been excessively generous and runs after him. He invents two young prophets, a journey from the hill country of Ephraim, and a need for silver and clothing; Naaman, with admirable insistence, doubles the silver. Gehazi hides the gifts, then tells Elisha he went nowhere. Elisha asks whether this is the time for money, clothing, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, menservants, and maidservants. The leprosy Naaman lost now clings to Gehazi and his descendants, and Gehazi leaves white as snow.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
2 Kgs 5:1Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
2 Kgs 5:2At 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.
2 Kgs 5:3She said to her mistress, “If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.”
2 Kgs 5:4And Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said.
2 Kgs 5:5“Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.
2 Kgs 5:6And the letter that he took to the king of Israel stated: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman, so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
2 Kgs 5:7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”
2 Kgs 5:8Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
2 Kgs 5:9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.
2 Kgs 5:10Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.”
2 Kgs 5:11But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the spot to cure my leprosy.
2 Kgs 5:12Are 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.
2 Kgs 5:13Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”
2 Kgs 5:14So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean.
2 Kgs 5:15Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “Now I know for sure that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
2 Kgs 5:16But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.” And although Naaman urged him to accept it, he refused.
2 Kgs 5:17“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.
2 Kgs 5:18Yet may the LORD forgive your servant this one thing: When my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my arm, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant in this matter.”
2 Kgs 5:19“Go in peace,” said Elisha. But after Naaman had traveled a short distance,
2 Kgs 5:20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman, by not accepting what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
2 Kgs 5:21So Gehazi pursued Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?”
2 Kgs 5:22“Everything is all right,” Gehazi replied. “My master has sent me to say, ‘Look, two young men from the sons of the prophets have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”
2 Kgs 5:23But Naaman insisted, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged Gehazi to accept them. Then he tied up two talents of silver in two bags along with two sets of clothing and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Gehazi.
2 Kgs 5:24When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the gifts from the servants and stored them in the house. Then he dismissed the men, and they departed.
2 Kgs 5:25When Gehazi went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Gehazi, where have you been?” “Your servant did not go anywhere,” he replied.
2 Kgs 5:26But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants?
2 Kgs 5:27Therefore, 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.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 329 passages were voted onto 26 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 1Luke 4:27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
- 14Job 33:25then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth.
- 14Luke 5:13Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
- 26Colossians 2:5For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ.
- 261 Corinthians 5:3Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
- 10John 9:7Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.
- 14Zechariah 14:8And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the Eastern Sea and the other half toward the Western Sea, in summer and winter alike.
- 1Romans 15:18I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,
- 71 Samuel 2:6The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
- 15Daniel 2:47The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”
- 10Leviticus 14:7Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field.
- 101 Corinthians 6:11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
- 132 Kings 6:21And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”
- 1Proverbs 21:31A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.
- 71 Kings 20:7Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, “Please take note and see that this man is looking for trouble, for when he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, I did not deny him.”
- 7Genesis 30:2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
Onward