A Tale of Two Soldiers
According to 2 Kings 5, despite being a great man (gāḏôl îš) and a mighty warrior (gibôr ḥayil), Naaman suffers from a humbling skin disease. He acquired a Jewish slave girl while leading a military raid whom he assigned to serve his wife. The girl, either on good terms (or hoping to curry favor) with her enslaver, tells her mistress how to find healing for Naaman’s embarrasing skin disease - go to the northern capital, Samaria, and find the prophet Elisha.
So Naaman goes to find this foreign prophet with healing powers. He takes silver, gold, and clothes - presumably as gifts for Elisha or ransom to bribe other raiders and bandits on the way. He does not want for himself what he had caused to others, whether death, injury, or slavery. When he gets there, the prophet does not come out to see him but sends messengers to tell him to wash in the same river in which John would later baptize soldiers just like Naaman.
Good news for Naaman is good news for GIs
The “mighty warrior” expected Elisha to come outside so he could watch as the prophet waved his hands like a magician; “ebrah k'dabri! You are healed!” But that’s not how God works. It is servants who heal their so-called master, the meek who will care over the mighty. It is Naaman’s servants who remind him who is coming to whom, and how easy it would be to follow Elisha’s orders rather than assume he is in charge.
If this story sounds vaguely familiar, it is because it is a mirror image of the centurion of great faith from Matthew 8 and Luke 7, a soldier I call CPT Marvel.
NAAMAN PREFIGURES CPT MARVEL
In the Gospel tradition, it is the servant who is sick, not the soldier. Once more, healing comes from a Jewish holy man who must be sought out at a great distance. Each account closes that distance differently, but both are callbacks to the story from 2 Kings 5. In Luke, Jewish elders advocate for the officer just like the servants did for Naaman before and during his journey. In Matthew, it is the soldier’s faith that closes the distance.
Together, the Gospel stories amplify the centurion’s humility. In both, a high-ranking representative of a military force that he is unworthy to receive an itinerant troublemaking holy man under his roof. This contrasts sharply with Naaman’s comparably feeble faith, who grasps at every chance to preserve his own sense of superiority.
There are other, really interesting, parallels. If you’re interested, I’ve set up a parallel you can read at BibleGateway - click here to read all three passages together.
