2 Kings 5:1-17

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Saint Andrew Church
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(Jan0910)

• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Hebrew text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • IV.9, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 210)
  • VI.28, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Philocalia [anthology of Origen prepared by St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen], Origen. (c.230)
  • Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org.
  • From the Geneva Notes (c.1599).
    • "Man's reason murmurs when it considers only the signs and outward things, and has no regard for the word of God, which is contained there."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.(c. 1700)
    • "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."
  • From Wesley's Notes. John Wesley (1703-1791).
    • "Not that he thought it unlawful to receive presents, which he did receive from others, but because of the special circumstances of the case; this being much for the honour of God that the Syrians should see the generous piety, and kindness of his ministers and servants, and how much they despised all that worldly wealth and glory, which the prophets of the Gentiles so greedily sought after."
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "This leprosy, which, in Israel, would have excluded him from society, did not affect his free intercourse in the court of Syria."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, 2 Kings 5:1-14, W. Dennis Tucker, Jr., Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
    • "The text this week centers on a common theme: the faith of a servant acted out on foreign soil."
  • 2 Kings 5:1-14, Proper 6B, Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • 2 Kings 5:1-14, Studies on Old Testament texts from Series B, Ralph W. Klein, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
  • 2 Kings 5:1-14, Epiphany 6B, The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Howard Wallace Audrey Schindler, Morag Logan, Paul Tonson, Lorraine Parkinson, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.
    • "In the course of this story many expectations, assumptions, ‘normal’ practices and appropriate behaviours are overturned."
  • 2 Kings 5:1-12, Transfiguration B, Commentary, Background, Insights from Literary Structure, Theological Message, Ways to Present the Text. Anna Grant-Henderson, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "Healing came through simple obedience (Seow: 198)."
  • Join the Feast, 2 Kings 5:1-14, Catherine Devins, Union PSCE, 2009.
    • "God mediates salvation in unexpected ways—through lowly servants and simple acts, and is symbolized in a baptism."
  • "A Nameless Nobody Advises a 'Great Man': The Outsider In, the Insider Out," The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation, 2009.
    • "The insider-outsider dynamic operates at many levels."
  • "Muddling Through," J. Mary Luti, The Christian Century, 1998.
    • "God outwaits us while in weakness healing begins."
  • "Naaman," Chapter 1 in The Politics of God and the Politics of Man, Jacques Ellul. Full text at Religion Online.
    • "If Elisha did not receive him when it was a question of performing a miracle of healing for him (although he did perform it), he did receive him when the basic problem was at issue And this, too, should be enlightening to us Christians who are so zealous for action and so scornful of what is only a matter of conversion and the inner life."
  • "Namaan's No-nonsense Cure," Peter S. Hawkins, The Christian Century, 2001. Religion Online.
    • "The situation is bizarre: a hostile pagan king asks an impossible favor for his generalissimo, thereby setting the stage for disappointment and what might well be the next political disaster. Jesus plays with the politics implicit in the story, making good use of the perennial tensions between Jew and gentile, us and them."
  • "Miracle Market," Barbara Crafton, The Christian Century, 2003.
    • "A miracle has to be magic and full of special effects before we'll pay any attention."
  • "A Brief Moment for a One-Person Remnant," Walter Brueggemann, Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2001.
    • "The positive use of "remnant" in the First Testament characteristically refers to a self-conscious, self-aware, and often self-serving community that claims the future of Israel for itself (see Hasel). This article considers a "remnant" figure who is not self-conscious or self-aware, and certainly not self-serving."
  • "Naaman's Truth," Expository Essay, 2 Kings 5:1-14, Dr. William R. Long. Part 2.
    • "The story has so much to teach us--about where we expect 'saving' words to come, about the way we rush to interpretive possibilities that aren't life-giving for us, about how we close off joy and meaning because we can only see things one way, about how we limit life by our own expectations, about how the 'little people' really may have the key to life for us."
  • "Naaman and the Wild God of Israel," Michael A. King, Spirituality Today, Spring 1986.
    • "Though our theologies seek to grasp at God and limit him, we know him only partly, for he remains mysterious, unpredictable, unknowable and "untame.""
  • "Change of Skin, Change of Heart," Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A Lectionary Resource for Catholics.
    • "Do we see God's miracles in our lives? Do they change us and give us faith?"
  • "The Healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-19)," by J. Hampton Keathley III at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
    • "The healing of Naaman, the Leper is not just a story of the healing of a man from one of the most dreaded diseases of ancient times, but it is a story of salvation, one which illustrates the spiritual salvation man finds only in Jesus Christ and how men come to find that salvation in Christ."
  • 2 Kings 5:1-14, Proper 14C, Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • 2 Kings 5:1-14, Pentecost 6, The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Howard Wallace Audrey Schindler, Morag Logan, Paul Tonson, Lorraine Parkinson, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.
    • "The background to this intriguing story is the history of conflict between Israel and Syria (Aram)."
  • Kairos CoMotion Lectionary Discussion, 2 Kings 5:1-14 / Isaiah 66:10-14, "A place of conversation regarding Progressive Christianity."
    • "A part of our common work is to receive nursing and to give nursing and to wisely know the difference and the time for each."
• Articles & Background:
  • "Author Recounts His 'Journey with Leprosy,'" NPR All Things Considered, February 1, 2009.
  • "War in the Old Testament," John A. Wood, (other resources at) "Peace and War," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2004.
    • "How can God be both a God of peace and a God of war? The ancient Israelites reached no consensus about holy war, just war, and pacifism. Yet Scripture faithfully records their long and difficult debates, for the diversity of viewpoints arose out of a deep faith in God who had brought the people out of Egypt."
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  • Barrick, William D., "Living a New Life: Old Testament Teaching about Conversion," Master's Seminary Journal, 2000.
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  • Brueggemann, Walter, "2 Kings 5: Two Evangelists and a Saved Subject," Missiology, 2007.
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  • Carvalhaes, Claudio, "Unexpected Gestures, Holy at Home," Journal of Family Ministry, 2006.
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  • Cohn, Robert L., "Form and Perspective in 2 Kings V," Vetus Testamentum, 1983.
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  • Crafton, Barbara, "Miracle Market," The Christian Century, 2003.
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  • Effa, Allan L., "Prophet, Kings, Servants and Lepers: A Missiological Reading of an Ancient Drama," Missiology, 2004.
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  • Farrington, Debra, "Healed, Not Cured," The Christian Century, 2006.
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  • Getui, Mary N., "Wash and Be Clean," Ecumenical Review, 1997.
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  • Hawkins, Peter S., "Namaan's No-Nonsense Cure," The Christian Century, 2001.
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  • Kim, Jean Kyoung, "Reading and Retelling Naaman's Story (2 Kings 5)," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2005.
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  • Luti, J. Mary, "Muddling Through," The Christian Century, 1998.
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  • Menn, Esther M., "A Little Child Shall Lead Them: The Role of the Little Israelite Servant Girl (2 Kings 5:1-19)," Currents in Theology and Mission, 2008.
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  • Ngan, Lai Ling Elizabeth, "2 Kings 5," Review & Expositor, 1997.
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  • Satterthwaite, Philip E., "The Elisha Narratives and the Coherence of 2 Kings 2-8," Tyndale Bulletin, 1998.
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  • Schulte, Hannelis, "The End of the Omride Dynasty: Social-Ethical Observations on the Subject of Power and Violence," Semeia, 1994.
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  • Smith, W. Alan, "Naaman and Elisha: Healing, Wholeness, and the Task of Religious Education," Religious Education, 1994.
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• Reviews:
• Sermons:
  • "The Laughter Barrel," Dr. Jeffrey K. London, Lectionary.org.
  • "Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx," the Rev. Heidi Neumark, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Congregation-Based Community Organizing, 2006.
  • "Healing Touch," Rev. Sarah Buteux, Cambridge Swedenborg Chapel, Cambridge, MA.
  • "What the Mighty Might Learn," the Rev. Barbara K. Lundblad, Day 1, 2003.
  • "It's Not about You!" John Jewell, 2000.
• With Children:
  • "Elisha," "Namaan's Little Maid," Illustrating the Story (lessons, children's sermons), coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts.
  • "Seven Ducks in Muddy Water (Part 1)," "Seven Ducks in Muddy Water (Part 2)," Barbara Wilmerton Haas, The Children's Chapel.
  • "Elisha Heals Naaman of Leprosy," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
  • "Naaman's Leprosy Is Healed," children's study, puzzles, coloring sheet, etc. Higher Praise Christian Center.
• Drama:
  • "Naaman - Staying Alert to God," Peter & Mary Minson, dramatix.
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Clip Art, 2 Kings 5:17, Fr. Richard Lonsdale, Resources for Catholic Educators.
  • Images for this week's readings, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
• Hymns and Music:
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • healing/healers
  • Elisha (includes images of Naaman and Elisha)
• Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
  • healing/healers
  • clean/unclean
  • children as mediator figures
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of 2 Kings