2 Kings 5:11-14

5:11 Naaman went away angry. He said, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease. 5:12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel! ¹  Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry. 5:13 His servants approached and said to him, “O master, ²  if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, ³  you would have been willing to do it. ⁴  It seems you should be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.” ⁵  5:14 So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed. ⁶  His skin became as smooth as a young child’s ⁷  and he was healed.

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¹ tn Heb “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all of the waters of Israel?” The rhetorical question expects an emphatic “yes” as an answer.

² tn Heb “my father,” reflecting the perspective of each individual servant. To address their master as “father” would emphasize his authority and express their respect. See BDB 3 s.v. אָב and the similar idiomatic use of “father” in 2 Kgs 2:12.

³ tn Heb “a great thing.”

⁴ tn Heb “would you not do [it]?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you would.”

⁵ tn Heb “How much more [when] he said, “Wash and be healed.” The second imperative (“be healed”) states the expected result of obeying the first (‘wash”).

⁶ tn Heb “according to the word of the man of God.”

⁷ tn Heb “and his skin was restored, like the skin of a small child.”