Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 5
It was Naaman’s servants who dealt with his anger. They spoke to him gently, and with great respect. They knew that he wanted, more than anything else, to be well again. However, to achieve that, he must first give up his proud attitudes. He must obey what Elisha the prophet had said.
The servants seemed to believe that Elisha really was a prophet, a holy man with power from God. Probably, they too had heard the maid’s report about the wonderful things that Elisha did by God’s power (5:2-3). They may have heard more reports, perhaps after they came into Israel. They had seen the authority from God with which Elisha advised Naaman. They knew that Elisha had spoken correctly: Naaman really did have extremely proud attitudes.
A servant soon learns to obey: he has to obey his master constantly. However, that lesson was much harder for Naaman. He had considered himself much too great to do something that seemed unimportant.
However, Naaman was not lazy. For a great prophet, Naaman was willing to carry out a great task or to pay a great price (5:5). Such actions would not affect Naaman’s proud opinions about himself. Rather, it would increase Naaman’s pride to know that he had achieved something great.
It was those proud attitudes that God was dealing with. God wanted Naaman to be humble enough so that God would work in his life. However, even before that, Naaman needed to be humble enough to listen to his servants.
Next part: God cures Naaman (2 Kings 5:14)
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