Sunday School Project --- 05-02-13 (February 13, 2005) Lesson --- based on the International Sunday School Lesson

Unless Jesus returns before.
February 13, 2005

Sunday School Project
This Week's
International Sunday School Lesson

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

2 Kings 5:1

Quotes & Notes on: 2 Kings 5:1

John Wesley's Notes:
(No comment on this verse).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
* A.M. 3110. B.C. 894. Naaman. Lu 4:27
* a great. 2Ki 4:8; Ex 11:3; Es 9:4; 10:3
* with. Heb. before. honourable. or, gracious. Heb. lifted
up, or accepted in countenance. by him. Pr 21:31; Isa 10:5,6; Jer 27:5,6; De 2:37; Joh 19:11; Ro 15:18
* deliverance. or, victory. a leper. 2Ki 5:27; 7:3; Le 13:2,3,44-46; Nu 12:10-12; 2Sa 3:29; 2Ch 26:19-23 2Co 12:7
Adam Clarke's Commentary:
Naaman, captain of the host] Of Naaman we know nothing more than is related here. Jarchi and some others say that he was the man who drew the bow at a venture, as we term it, and slew Ahab: see 1Ki 22:34, and the notes there. He is not mentioned by Josephus, nor has he any reference to this history; which is very strange, as it exists in the Chaldee, Septuagint, and Syriac.

King of Syria] The Hebrew is melech Aram, king of Aram; which is followed by the Chaldee and Arabic. The Syriac has [Syriac] Adom; but as the Syriac [Syriac] dolath is the same element as the Syriac [Syriac] rish, differing only in the position of the diacritic point, it may have been originally Aram. The Septuagint and Vulgate have Syria, and this is a common meaning of the term in Scripture. If the king of Syria be meant, it must be Ben-hadad; and the contemporary king of Israel was Jehoram.

A great man] He was held in the highest esteem.

And honourable] Had the peculiar favour and confidence of his master; and was promoted to the highest trusts.

Had given deliverance unto Syria] That is, as the rabbins state, by his slaying Ahab, king of Israel; in consequence of which the Syrians got the victory.

A mighty man in valour] He was a giant, and very strong, according to the Arabic. He had, in a word, all the qualifications of an able general.

But he was a leper.] Here was a heavy tax upon his grandeur; he was afflicted with a disorder the most loathsome and the most humiliating that could possibly disgrace a human being. God often, in the course of his providence, permits great defects to be associated with great eminence, that he may hide pride from man; and cause him to think soberly of himself and his acquirements.
Family Bible Notes:
No honors or successes can secure men from trouble; and for the blessings they obtain by their own efforts, or those of others, they are indebted to God.
1599 Geneva Bible Notes:
Here it appears that among the infidels God has his, and also that the infidels esteem those who do good to their country.
People's New Testament Commentary:
(No comment on this verse)
Robertson's Word Pictures:
(No comment on this verse)
Albert Barnes' Commentary:
(No comment on this verse)
Jamieson-Faussett Brown:
Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master--highly esteemed for his military character and success.

and honourable--rather, "very rich."

but he was a leper--This leprosy, which, in Israel, would have excluded him from society, did not affect his free intercourse in the court of Syria.
Spurgeon Commentary:
In every lot there is a crook; no man can be described without a "but." Naaman's "but" was one which embittered his life, for his disease was loathsome, deadly, and incurable.
William Burkitt's Notes:
(No comment on this verse)
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:
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 out 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.
The Fourfold Gospel:
(No comment on this verse)