It's no wonder this is one of the more well-loved stories in the Old Testament. It has everything you could want---interesting characters, drama, mystery, irony, and even a touch of humor.

Naaman was a great general in the army of the king of Aram, a land to the north of Israel, but he was afflicted with leprosy. Significantly, the Bible tells us that his success in battle against Israel was given to him by the Lord, but it says nothing of his leprosy. We encounter Naaman not on the battlefield but at home, where a Hebrew slave girl serving his wife takes pity on the great general. How ironic that a slave girl, separated by this general from her land and family, should act to help him, and that the cure is to be found in the land he has conquered.

Naaman is desperate. He asks the king to find the prophet in Israel who can cure him, with a huge reward attached. The king of Aram sends a letter to the king of Israel, demanding that he heal his general. Note that the king of Aram assumes that kings are in charge of this sort of thing. The king of Israel is flummoxed by the demand. "How can I cure this man?" he asks in fear. "Am I God?"

Elisha, "the man of God," hears of the commotion and instructs the king to send Naaman to him. Shortly thereafter Naaman arrives at Elisha's front door, accompanied by an entourage of horses, chariots, and soldiers. Instead of going out himself to meet this honored guest, Elisha sends a servant to greet the visiting dignitary with a message: "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored. . . ."

Naaman, insulted, stalks away in a rage. He had imagined exactly how the healing would take place---with a laying on of hands while invoking the God of Israel, as befits a general. And now he's supposed to wash himself in that muddy stream called the Jordan? It's only after his servants calm him down (again) that he does what Elisha has told him to do . . . and is cured!

Again he shows up at Elisha's door, now in gratitude, wanting to give Elisha a gift. Elisha refuses the offer, but then Naaman makes a strange request. He asks for some dirt from the land of Israel to take back with him and vows that from now on he will offer sacrifices only to the God of Israel---with one strange and humorous exception. When he's with the king of Aram at the temple of Rimmon, he will at least bow a little bit with the king. For this he asks forgiveness in advance, which Elisha grants, telling this man of war to "Go in peace."

There's a second ending to the story, having to do with Elisha's greedy servant (vv. 19-27) which you might also want to read.

Jesus himself refers to this story in Luke 4:27. The Pharisees taunt him to do his miracles on demand, to which Jesus replies, "Prophets are not accepted in their hometowns." He then recalls the stories of Elijah, who miraculously fed the widow in Zarepath, and Elisha, who brought healing to Naaman. "There were many in Israel with leprosy . . . yet not one of them was cleansed---only Naaman the Syrian." As so often happens in the Bible, through the power of God, insiders end up outside and outsiders inside.