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Elisha and Naaman the Syrian Naaman had very fixed ideas about what it takes to get a miracle.
850 BC
Music: Ignaz Moscheles

© Jim Gordon, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0. Source

About this picture …

Barada, the chief river of the city, flowing through the narrow streets of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Named Abana in the Bible and ‘the golden stream’ in Greek, Naaman was very proud of it but Elisha insisted on the Jordan.

Elisha and Naaman the Syrian
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.

Précis

The Syrian king wanted to help a captain in his army called Naaman, who suffered from leprosy. He sent Naaman to see Elisha, who told him to wash seven times in the Jordan. Naaman was disappointed at this simple remedy, but his cure quite changed his mind, and he converted to Judaism. (52 / 60 words)

Source

Based on 2 Kings 5.

Suggested Music

Symphony: C Major, Op. 81

2: Adagio

Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870)

Performed by the Frankfurt Brandenburg State Orchestra.

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