2 Kings 5:17-19
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
17 Naaman said: “If you will not accept, please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth,[a] for your servant will no longer make burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the Lord. 18 But may the Lord forgive your servant this: when my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down there, as he leans upon my arm, I too must bow down in the temple of Rimmon. When I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please forgive your servant this.” 19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”[b]
Naaman had gone some distance
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- 5:17 Two mule-loads of earth: worship of the Lord is associated with the soil of the Holy Land, where he is present.
- 5:19 Go in peace: Elisha understands and approves the situation of Naaman who, though now a worshiper of the God of Israel, is required by his courtly office to assist his master, the king (“leans upon my arm,” v. 18), worshiping in the temple of the Canaanite god Baal-Rimmon.
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