2 Kings 5:1

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 1 Kings 22:34 ; (note), 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 ארם מלך melech Aram , king of Aram; which is followed by the Chaldee and Arabic. The Syriac has Adom ; but as the Syriac dolath is the same element as the 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 honorable - Had the peculiar favor 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 valor - 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.