5 The king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of clothing.
Samson said to them, Let me now put forth a riddle to you: if you can declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing;
The king said to Hazael, Take a present in your hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of Yahweh by him, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness? So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Your son Benhadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness?
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let's go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."
Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power, that whoever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall of it, and it will be trampled down.
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;" and, behold, this also was vanity.
He said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; please give them a talent of silver, and two changes of clothing. Naaman said, Be pleased to take two talents. He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they bore them before him.
They said one to another, "Come, let's make brick, and burn them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
The king of Israel said to his servants, "You know that Ramoth-gilead is ours, and we are still, and don't take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?"
Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we? The servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way.
Therefore now flee you to your place: I thought to promote you to great honor; but, behold, Yahweh has kept you back from honor. Balaam said to Balak, Didn't I also tell your messengers who you sent to me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of Yahweh, to do either good or bad of my own mind; what Yahweh speaks, that will I speak?
for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me. Balaam answered the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more.
The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.
To all of them he gave each man changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Kings 5
Commentary on 2 Kings 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
Two more of Elisha's miracles are recorded in this chapter.
2Ki 5:1-8
Our saviour's miracles were intended for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet one, like a crumb, fell from the table to a woman of Canaan; so this one miracle Elisha wrought for Naaman, a Syrian; for God does good to all, and will have all men to be saved. Here is,
2Ki 5:9-14
We have here the cure of Naaman's leprosy.
2Ki 5:15-19
Of the ten lepers that our Saviour cleansed, the only one that returned to give thanks was a Samaritan, Lu. 17:16. This Syrian did so, and here expresses himself.
2Ki 5:20-27
Naaman, a Syrian, a courtier, a soldier, had many servants, and we read how wise and good they were, v. 13. Elisha, a holy prophet, a man of God, has but one servant, and he proves a base, lying, naughty fellow. Those that heard of Elisha at a distance honoured him, and got good by what they heard; but he that stood continually before him, to hear his wisdom, had no good impressions made upon him either by his doctrine or miracles. One would have expected that Elisha's servant should be a saint (even Ahab's servant, Obadiah, was), but even Christ himself had a Judas among his followers. The means of grace cannot give grace. The best men, the best ministers have often had those about them that have been their grief and shame. The nearer the church the further from God. Many come from the east and west to sit down with Abraham when the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. Here is,