NL 109 Elisha Heals Naaman

Evoking empathy with characters whom we might initially find dislikable or unempathetic

Commentary on 2 Kings 5:1-15a

Song-Mi Suzie Park

The story of Naaman’s healing from leprosy in 2 Kings 5 begins in an unusual place and centers on an unusual person. The story takes place, not in Israel, but in Israel’s enemy country of Aram (modern-day Syria). And it centers on God’s healing of a successful and rich Aramean army commander, not a pious and humble Israelite. Naaman is such a successful commander and is so well-to-do that his wife has a slave girl from Israel in her service. This, in short, is not the kind of main character you expect to find in the Hebrew Bible.

Initially, Naaman seems unlikeable. He is, after all, a rich, militaristic slave-owner. Not someone most of us can or want to relate to. However, the biblical writers chip away at our dislike by adding in small details that humanize Naaman: In the first verse, they tell us that Naaman is afflicted with leprosy (2 Kings 5:1). Though scholars don’t know the exact disease referred to here, what is clear is that Naaman is unwell. And sickness is something everyone can relate to, something we all share.

As physical beings, we all inhabit and are bound by our physical bodies. And part of life as a physical creature is the weakness, decline, and pain that accompany it. Pain doesn’t care about who we are, how much we have been through, or where we come from. From the richest to the poorest, the strongest to the weakest, most of us will come to feel and understand pain. We will all get sick and suffer from ill health at some point in our lives. We all will die. The Bible encourages us to accept our limitedness, our brevity, and our mortality when it states: “Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Only by realizing that we die do we come to understand love and its significance.¹

Related to the call to accept our finitude, we can discern another message in this tale: No matter our ethnicity, background, or income level, we, as human beings, are similar to each other. We all are alike in key ways. And our differences are manufactured divisions that disguise and conceal our likeness. Or to put it in more religious terms, as the Dalai Lama says: “No matter what part of the world we come from, fundamentally we are all the same human beings. We all seek happiness and want to avoid suffering. We all have essentially the same needs and similar concerns. We all want freedom.”²

By evoking empathy with characters whom we might initially find dislikable or unempathetic, the story nudges us to think and see past constructed differences, to focus on our shared needs and concerns. For example, aside from Naaman, we also hear about the distress and stress that his sickness is causing for his (unnamed) wife. So upset is Naaman’s wife about her husband’s illness that she confides in her Israelite slave girl. As is so often the case, sickness does not just affect the individual but the entire circle of people who love and care for the one who is unwell. As such, the story prompts us to pay more attention to the caregivers, families, and loved ones of those who are suffering from declining health. These family members, too, need compassion and understanding.

The story also emphasizes our similarities by flipping expectations and undermining our easy assumptions. The rich and powerful are shown to be powerless when faced with illness and disease. Naaman, his wife, and the king of Israel, who receives a letter from Naaman asking for help—they all throw up their hands when confronted with this problem (2 Kings 5:7).

Rather, it is the poor, dispossessed, and enslaved who are shown to have the power and knowledge to help, heal, and save. There is the Israelite slave girl who tells Naaman’s wife of the presence of a powerful healing prophet in Israel—a slave girl who, despite being forced to become a servant, is portrayed as compassionate and kindhearted enough to share news of a potential solution with the person to whom she is enslaved.

There is also the servant of Naaman. Taking a risk, he calls out his boss for too easily dismissing a potential remedy. The servant tells Naaman to just try the cure suggested by the prophet even if it seems too easy and uncomplicated to be effective (2 Kings 5:13). What is there to lose, after all? And Naaman, perhaps humbled by his sickness, chooses to listen to his servant by following the simple instructions given by the prophet Elijah. With a bath in the river, Naaman is healed.

The final message of this story is clear: Looks can be deceiving. Or as the Italians say, the habit does not make the monk (L’abito non fa il monaco). Things are not as they initially appear. The rich and powerful are shown to be poorer and less powerful than the Israelites who serve or are enslaved to them. As such, the story pushes us to look beyond mere appearances.

The story also teaches us to seek things that are true and everlasting, to not merely settle for status, riches, power, and things that fade—vanities, as it were. Rather, the story pushes us to think about what we should truly value instead. What do true riches, true power, and true knowledge entail? What is valuable, versus what is merely dross?

Notes

Song-Mi Suzie Park, Love in the Hebrew Bible (Westminster John Knox, 2023), 127–130.
Dalai Lama IXV, My Spiritual Journey: Personal Reflections, Teachings, and Talks (HarperOne, 2010), 20.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Healing God, you healed your servant Naaman of his affliction when he came to you, through Elisha, for help. Heal our afflictions, and make us faithful servants. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.