translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “was a great man before his master and lifted up with respect to the face.”


text: For a discussion of מְצֹרָע ( mÿtsora ’), traditionally translated “leprous,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 63. Naaman probably had a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy/Hansen’s disease.


text: For location see Map2-B1 ; Map4-D3 ; Map5-E2 ; Map6-A4 ; Map7-C1 .


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Naaman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The Hebrew term כִּכָּר ( kikkar , “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 750 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).


text: Heb “six thousand gold […].” The unit of measure is not given in the Hebrew text. A number of English versions supply “pieces” (e.g., KJV, ASV, NAB, TEV) or “shekels” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV).


text: Heb “and now when this letter comes to you, look, I have sent to you Naaman my servant.”


text: Heb “Am I God, killing and restoring life, that this one sends to me to cure a man from his skin disease?” In the Hebrew text this is one lengthy rhetorical question, which has been divided up in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”


text: Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 15, 20 ).


text: Heb “Let him come.”


text: Heb “will return to you.”


text: 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.


text: 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 .


text: Heb “a great thing.”


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


text: 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”).


text: Heb “according to the word of the man of God.”


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


text: Heb “look.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “before whom I stand.”


text: Heb “and [if] not, may there be given to your servant a load [for] a pair of mules, earth.”


text: Heb “for your servant will not again make a burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, only to the Lord .”


text: Heb “When my master enters the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand and I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, when I bow down [in] the house of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this thing.” sn Rimmon was the Syrian storm god. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.


text: Heb “and he went from him a distance of land.” The precise meaning of כִּבְרַה ( kivrah ) “distance,” is uncertain. See BDB 460 s.v. כִּבְרַה , and HALOT 459-60 s.v. II * כְּבָרַה , and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 65.


text: Heb “said” (i.e., to himself).


text: Heb “Look, my master spared this Syrian Naaman by not taking from his hand what he brought.”


text: Heb “Is there peace?”


text: Heb “peace.”


text: Heb “Look now, here, two servants came to me from the Ephraimite hill country, from the sons of the prophets.”


text: The Hebrew term כִּכָּר ( kikkar , “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75 pounds of silver (cf. NCV, NLT, CEV).


text: Heb “Be resolved and accept two talents.”


text: Heb “before him.”


text: Heb “from their hand.”


text: Heb “and he sent the men away and they went.”


text: Heb “Did not my heart go as a man turned from his chariot to meet you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes that he was indeed present in “heart” (or “spirit”) and was very much aware of what Gehazi had done. In the MT the interrogative particle has been accidentally omitted before the negative particle.


text: In the MT the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Is this the time…?” It expects an emphatic negative response.


text: Heb “cling to.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Gehazi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Traditionally, “he went from before him, leprous like snow.” But see the note at 5:1 , as well as M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 66.