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12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel![a] Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry. 13 His servants approached and said to him,[b] “O master,[c] if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task,[d] you would have been willing to do it.[e] It seems you should be happy that he simply said, ‘Wash and you will be healed.’[f] 14 So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed.[g] His skin became as smooth as a young child’s[h] and he was healed.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 5:12 tn 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.
  2. 2 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “They spoke to him. They said.”
  3. 2 Kings 5:13 tn 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.
  4. 2 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “a great thing.”
  5. 2 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “would you not do [it]?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you would.”
  6. 2 Kings 5:13 tn 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”).
  7. 2 Kings 5:14 tn Heb “according to the word of the man of God.”
  8. 2 Kings 5:14 tn Heb “and his skin was restored, like the skin of a small child.”

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters(A) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.(B)

13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,(C) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,(D) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored(E) and became clean like that of a young boy.(F)

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