2 Kings 5:3

And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) Would God.—O that! ’Ahalê here; in Psalm 119:5, ’Ahalay. The word seems to follow the analogy of ’ashrê, “O the bliss of!” (Psalm 1:1). It perhaps means “O the delight of!” the root ’ahal being assumed equivalent to the Arabic halâ, Syriac halî, “dulcis fuit.”

For he would recover him.—Then he would receive him back. (Comp. Numbers 12:14-15.) In Israel lepers were excluded from society. Restoration to society implied restoration to health. Hence the same verb came to be used in the sense of healing as well as of receiving back the leper. Thenius, however, argues that as the phrase “from leprosy” is wanting in Numbers 12, the real meaning is, “to take a person away from leprosy,” to which he had been, as it were, delivered up.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 5:3. Would God my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria — In the kingdom of Samaria; or, rather, in the city of Samaria; where Elisha was when she was taken, and where he commonly resided, though he went to other places as need required. For he would recover him of his leprosy — She had heard of the wonderful things which he had done, and therefore was confident he could work this cure. Children should betimes acquaint themselves with the wondrous works of God, that wherever they go they may speak of them, to the profit of others. Yea, and servants, like this little maid, may be blessings to the families in which Providence casts their lot, by telling what they know of the glory of God, and the honour of his ministers.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:1-8 Though the Syrians were idolaters, and oppressed God's people, yet the deliverance of which Naaman had been the means, is here ascribed to the Lord. Such is the correct language of Scripture, while those who write common history, plainly show that God is not in all their thoughts. No man's greatness, or honour, can place him our of the reach of the sorest calamities of human life: there is many a sickly, crazy body under rich and gay clothing. Every man has some but or other, something that blemishes and diminishes him, some allay to his grandeur, some damp to his joy. This little maid, though only a girl, could give an account of the famous prophet the Israelites had among them. Children should be early told of the wondrous works of God, that, wherever they go, they may talk of them. As became a good servant, she desired the health and welfare of her master, though she was a captive, a servant by force; much more should servants by choice, seek their masters' good. Servants may be blessings to the families where they are, by telling what they know of the glory of God, and the honour of his prophets. Naaman did not despise what she told, because of her meanness. It would be well if men were as sensible of the burden of sin as they are of bodily disease. And when they seek the blessings which the Lord sends in answer to the prayers of his faithful people, they will find nothing can be had, except they come as beggars for a free gift, not as lords to demand or purchase.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

No peace had been made on the failure of Ahab's expedition 1 Kings 22:1-36. The relations of the two countries therefore continued to be hostile, and plundering inroads naturally took place on the one side and on the other.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2-5. a little maid—who had been captured in one of the many predatory incursions which were then made by the Syrians on the northern border of Israel (see 1Sa 30:8; 2Ki 13:21; 24:2). By this young Hebrew slave of his wife, Naaman's attention was directed to the prophet of Israel, as the person who would remove his leprosy. Naaman, on communicating the matter to his royal master, was immediately furnished with a letter to the king of Israel, and set out for Samaria, carrying with him, as an indispensable preliminary in the East, very costly presents.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In Samaria; either, first, In the kingdom of Samaria. Or, secondly, In the city of Samaria; where he was when she was taken; or where he commonly resided, though he went to other places, as need required.

He would recover him of his leprosy; or, take him away (as this Hebrew verb is used, Genesis 30:23 Zephaniah 1:2) from his leprosy, i.e. take away his leprosy from him.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And she said unto her mistress,.... As she was waiting upon her at a certain time, and perhaps her mistress was lamenting the case of her husband as desperate and incurable:

would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria; meaning Elisha, who, though sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another, yet often at Samaria, and it seems was there when this girl was taken captive:

for he would recover him of his leprosy; the maid had heard of the miracles wrought by Elisha, and doubted not that at the request of her lord he would be willing, as she believed he was able, to cure him of this disease.

Geneva Study Bible

And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the {b} prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

(b) Meaning Elisha.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. Would God] This interjection is found only here and in Psalm 119:5. There it is rendered ‘O that my ways were directed’.

the prophet that is in Samaria] Elisha had a house in the city of Samaria, as we see from verse 9, and also from 2 Kings 6:32. The fame of the prophet, and the mighty cures which God wrought through him, must have been matter of much note ere they reached this little servant.

he would recover him] The verb, which commonly means ‘to assemble’ or ‘gather together’, is very expressive in the mouth of the Israelitish maiden, for the leper in Israel must keep himself apart, and never be gathered with the rest of the people. The passive is used (Numbers 11:14-15) when Miriam was cured of her leprosy, ‘she was received in again’, i.e. joined in the company of the rest of the people.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! literally, Oh that my lord were before the prophet who is in Samaria! Elisha had a house in Samaria (2 Kings 6:32), where he resided occasionally. For he would recover him of his leprosy. The "little maid" concludes from her small experience that, if her master and the great miracle-working prophet of her own land could be brought together, the result would be his cure. She has, in her servile condition, contracted an affection both for her master and her mistress, and her sympathies are strongly with them. Perhaps she had no serious purpose in speaking as she did. The words burst from her as a mere expression of goodwill. She did not contemplate any action resulting from them. "Oh that things could be otherwise than as they are! Had I my dear master in my own country, it would be easy to accomplish his cure. The prophet is so powerful and so kind. He both could and would recover him." Any notion of her vague wish being carried out, being made the ground of a serious embassy, was probably far from the girl's thought. But the "bread cast upon the waters returns after many days." There is no kind wish or kind utterance that may not have a result far beyond anything that the wisher or utterer contemplated. Good wishes are seeds that ofttimes take root, and grow, and blossom, and bear fruit beyond the uttermost conception of those who sow them. 2 Kings 5:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

And in Naaman's house before his wife, i.e., in her service, there was an Israelitish maiden, whom the Syrians had carried off in a marauding expedition (גדוּדים יצאוּ: they had gone out in (as) marauding bands). She said to her mistress: "O that my lord were before the prophet at Samaria! (where Elisha had a house, 2 Kings 6:32), he would free him from his leprosy." מצּרעת אסף, to receive (again) from leprosy, in the sense of "to heal," may be explained from Numbers 12:14-15, where אסף is applied to the reception of Miriam into the camp again, from which she had been excluded on account of her leprosy.