Stories From The Hebrew Bible
HOW A LITTLE GIRL HELPED CURE A LEPER
Stories From The Hebrew Bible
HOW A LITTLE GIRL HELPED CURE A LEPER
At one time, while Elisha was living in Israel, the general of the Syrian army was named Naaman. He was a great man in his rank; powerful and brave in battle. He had won victories for Syria. But one sad and terrible trouble came to Naaman. He was a leper. A leper was one with a disease called leprosy. The leper’s skin turns a deathly white and is covered with scales. One by one a leper’s fingers and toes; hands, feet, arms and limbs decay, until death comes. Yet, through it all, the leper feels no pain. Thus, at the first, one often denies that it is, in fact, leprosy.
There was in Naaman’s house at Damascus, in Syria, a little girl who waited on Naaman’s wife. She was a slave girl stolen from her mother’s home in Israel and carried away as a captive to Syria. Even when there was no open war between Syria and Israel, parties of men were going out on both sides and destroying villages on the border, robbing the people and carrying them away to be killed or sold as slaves. But this little girl, even though she had suffered wrong, had a kind heart, full of sorrow for her master Naaman; and one day she said to her mistress: “I wish that my lord Naaman might meet the prophet who lives in Samaria; for he could cure his leprosy.”
Someone told Naaman what the little girl had said, and Naaman spoke of it to the king of Syria. Now the king of Syria loved Naaman greatly; and when he went to worship in the temple of his god, out of all his nobles, the king chose to lean on Naaman’s arm. So he greatly desired to have Naaman’s leprosy cured. The king of Syria said, “I will send a letter to the king of Israel and ask him to let his prophet cure you.”
So Naaman, with a group of followers, rode in his chariot from Damascus to Samaria, a distance of about a hundred miles. He took with him as a present a large sum in gold and silver and many beautiful robes and garments. He came to the king of Israel and gave him the letter from the king of Syria. And this was written in the letter: “With this letter I have sent to you Naaman, my servant; and I wish you to cure him of his leprosy.”
The king of Syria thought that since this prophet who could cure leprosy was in Samaria, he must be under the orders of the king of Israel and, therefore, must do whatever his king told him to do. Since the king of Syria did not know the prophet, but knew the king, he wrote to him. But the king of Israel was greatly alarmed when he read the letter.
He said, “Am I God, to kill men and to make men live! Why should the king of Syria send to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Do you not see that he is trying to find an excuse for making war, in asking me to do what no man can do?”
And the king of Israel tore his garments, as men at that time did when they were in deep trouble. Elisha the prophet heard of the letter and of the king’s alarm, and he sent a message to the king. “Why are you so frightened? Let this man come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet of the Lord in Israel.”
So Naaman came with his chariots, his horses, and his fol- lowers and stood before the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha did not come out to meet him but sent his servant out to him, saying: “Go and wash in the river Jordan seven times, and your flesh and your skin shall become pure, and you shall be free from the leprosy.”
But Naaman was very angry because Elisha had not treated with more respect so great a man as he was. He either forgot or he did not know that by the laws of Israel no man could touch or even come near a leper. Naaman said:
Why, I supposed that of course he would come out to meet me and would wave his hand over the leper spot and would call on the name of the Lord his God, and in that manner would cure my leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the two rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters in Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean?
And Naaman turned and went away in a rage of anger. But his servants were wiser than he. They came to him, and one of them said: “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? Then why not do it, when he says, ‘Wash and be clean?’”
After a little Naaman’s anger cooled, and he went down the mountains to the river Jordan. He washed in its water seven times, as the prophet had bidden him. And the scales of leprosy left his skin, and his flesh became like the flesh of a little child, pure and clean. Then Naaman, a leper no more, came back to Elisha’s house with all his company, and he said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel. Let me make you a present in return for what you have done for me.” But the true prophets of God never gave their message or did their works for pay; and Elisha said to Naaman: “As surely as the Lord lives, before Whom I stand, I will receive nothing.”
And Naaman urged him to take the present, but he refused. Then Naaman asked a favor that he might be allowed to take away from the land of Israel as much soil as could be carried on two mules, with which to build an altar. He wanted to do this because he thought that an altar to the God of Israel could be made only of earth from the land of Israel; and he said:
From this time I will offer no burnt offering or sacrifice to any other god except the God of Israel. When I go with my master, the king of Syria, to worship in the temple of Rimmon his god, and my master leans on my arm, and I bow down to Rimmon with him, then may the Lord forgive me for this, which will look as if I were worshiping another god.
And Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”
Then Naaman went on his way back to his own land. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, said to himself: “My master has let this Syrian go without taking anything from him; but I will run after him and ask him for a present.”
So Gehazi ran after Naaman, and Naaman saw him following and stopped his chariot and stepped down to meet him. And Gehazi said to him: “My master has sent me to you to say that just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to his house; will you give them a talent of silver and two suits of clothing?”
And Naaman said, “Let me give you two talents of silver.”
So he put two talents of silver in two bags, a talent in each bag, and gave them to Gehazi, and with them he gave two suits of fine clothing. He sent them back by two of his servants. But before they came to Elisha’s house, Gehazi took the gifts and hid them. Then Gehazi went into the house and stood before Elisha. And Elisha said to him, “Gehazi, where have you been?”
And Gehazi answered, “I have not been at any place.” And Elisha said to him:
Did not my heart go with you, and did I not see you when the man stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to receive gifts of money and garments, or gifts of vineyards and olive yards and of sheep and oxen? Because you have done this wickedness, the leprosy of Naaman shall come upon you and shall cling to you and to your children after you forever!
And Gehazi walked out from Elisha’s presence, a leper, with his skin as white as snow.
