The little maid of Israel

2 Kings 5:1-2

Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife.

Things were not good in Israel. Jezebel was challenging YHWH’s supremacy as the God of Israel, pitting her prophets of Baal against Elijah, the prophet of the Lord. Political intrigue abounded. Nettlesome border skirmishes and systematic incursions by its enemies were unsettling, especially those from Ben-Hadad II of Syria to the north.

The Syrians had been a problem since the time of King David, sweeping in, looting, pillaging and taking captives. One fateful raid, a young girl—perhaps not even in her teens—was seized and destined for servitude in the house of the mighty Naaman, field marshal for his powerful king.

Terror

Her eyes must have been wide with terror the day she saw the fierce robber bands swoop in on horses, shouting words she could not understand, bent for mayhem and destruction. The screams of alarm echoed in her ears as friends and neighbors fled before the menacing marauders. Was she running to hide when a rough arm scooped her off her feet and onto a galloping horse, its rider’s grip hard as iron as she struggled to be free? She’d be booty fit for his commander’s house. Were the last scenes etched in her memory those of slaughtered loved ones, or of her beloved village going up in flames?

Jarring changes

As they galloped toward Damascas, a place she had probably never heard of, her young life was forever changed. Gone were the ways to which she was born. Ahead lay all things foreign: land, gods, customs, and tongue.

When she was brought to Naaman and his wife, they must have been pleased. Something about this young girl made her an especially fitting gift to such an august couple. One of the first things she would have noticed about her new master, a man famed for his valor, was shocking. He was a leper! Such a person would have been banned from her village, and now she would be expected to minister in his house. So many jarring changes for one so young.

In the passage of time

The Bible doesn’t indicate how long she served Naaman’s wife before gaining her trust, or when the little maid had the courage to approach her with a possible solution for her husband’s odious affliction. It seems that she had grown attached to her masters, and her heart was touched by Naaman’s suffering.

Hearkening back

Though displaced and young, she had not forgotten the miracles that prophets of her native Israel, the formidable Elijah and his helper Elisha, had performed by the power of YHWH. Perhaps she had only heard of these wonders when she went to the communal well to draw water with her mother, or when her family talked of the happenings of each day before drifting off to sleep. Or could it be that her father had been one of the 7000 who refused to bend their knees to Baal? And that she had witnessed firsthand the mettle it took to defy the wicked Jezebel?

She knew there was one who could help, and one day she had the boldness to voice her conviction. “Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy” (v 3).

Not only did her mistress listen, her master listened too. Naaman wasted no time in communicating her hopeful message to his sovereign, who in turn was willing to go to the king of Israel with a request: “Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you that you may heal him of his leprosy” (v 6). As a sort of peace offering and an appropriate token of political respect, he also sent ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

Courage rewarded

Ultimately the prophet Elisha intervened and the famous leper was healed. Not only that, but the mighty Naaman came to acknowledge something amazing: “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel….” (v 15).

Because of a young girl’s faith and courage, a great man changed. Scripture says no more about her, but her example still serves to inspire, even to this day.[i]