2 Kings 5 · Verse 2

2 Kings 5:2

And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
2 Kings 5:2, King James Version

2 Kings 5:2 in other translations

BSBAt this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife.
WEBThe Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little girl, and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
ASVAnd the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
YLTAnd the Aramaeans have gone out by troops, and they take captive out of the land of Israel a little damsel, and she is before the wife of Naaman,
DARBYAnd the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.
BBENow the Aramaeans had gone out in bands, and taken prisoner from Israel a little girl, who became servant to Naaman's wife.
WebsterAnd the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

What does 2 Kings 5:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 5:2-5
2-5. a little maid--who had been captured in one of the many predatory incursions which were then made by the Syrians on the northern border of Israel (see 1Sa 30:8; 2Ki 13:21; 24:2). By this young Hebrew slave of his wife, Naaman's attention was directed to the prophet of Israel, as the person who would remove his leprosy. Naaman, on communicating the matter to his royal master, was immediately furnished with a letter to the king of Israel, and set out for Samaria, carrying with him, as an indispensable preliminary in the East, very costly presents.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 The Syrians had gone out by companies - גדודים gedudim, troops. When one hundred or two hundred men go out by themselves to make prey of whatever they can get, that is called, says Jarchi, גדוד gedud, a troop. They had gone out in marauding parties; and on such occasions they bring away grain, cattle, and such of the inhabitants as are proper to make slaves. A little maid - Who, it appears, had pious parents, who brought her up in the knowledge of the true God. Behold the goodness and the severity of the Divine providence! affectionate parents are deprived of their promising daughter by a set of lawless freebooters, without the smallest prospect that she should have any lot in life but that of misery, infamy, and wo. Waited on Naaman's wife - Her decent orderly behavior, the consequence of her sober and pious education, entitled her to this place of distinction; in which her servitude was at least easy, and her person safe. If God permitted the parents to be deprived of their pious child by the hands of ruffians, he did not permit the child to be without a guardian. In such a case, were even the father and mother to forsake her, God would take her up.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Kings 5:1-8

Though the Syrians were idolaters, and oppressed God's people, yet the deliverance of which Naaman had been the means, is here ascribed to the Lord. Such is the correct language of Scripture, while those who write common history, plainly show that God is not in all their thoughts. No man's greatness, or honour, can place him our of the reach of the sorest calamities of human life: there is many a sickly, crazy body…

Read the full comment on 2 Kings 5:1-8 →

2 Kings 5:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַאֲרָם֙va.'a.Ramand AramH758
יָצְא֣וּya.tze.'Uthey had gone outH3318
גְדוּדִ֔יםge.du.Dimmarauding bandsH1416
וַיִּשְׁבּ֛וּvai.yish.Buand they had taken captiveH7617
מֵאֶ֥רֶץme.'E.retzfrom [the] land ofH776
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
נַעֲרָ֣הna.'a.Raha girlH5291
קְטַנָּ֑הke.ta.NahyoungH6996
וַתְּהִ֕יva.te.Hiand she wasH1961
לִפְנֵ֖יlif.Nei<to> beforeH6440
אֵ֥שֶׁת'E.shet[the] wife ofH802
נַעֲמָֽן\׃na.'a.ManNaamanH5283

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Kings 5:2

  • 2 Kings 6:23

    And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

  • 2 Kings 13:20

    And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

  • Psalms 123:2

    Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

  • 1 Samuel 13:17-18

    And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual: And another company turned the way to Beth–horon: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

  • Judges 9:34

    And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
by companies.
6:23; 13:20; Jud 9:34; 1Sa 13:17,18
waited on. Heb. was before.
Ps 123:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Kings 5:1

    Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

  • 2 Kings 5:2

    And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.

  • 2 Kings 5:3

    And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

Read all of 2 Kings 5

2 Kings 5:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y de Siria habían salido cuadrillas, y habían llevado cautiva de la tierra de Israel una muchacha; la cual sirviendo á la mujer de Naamán,
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et les Syriens étaient sortis par bandes, et avaient amené captive du pays d’Israël une petite fille, et elle servait la femme de Naaman.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und die Syrer waren in Streifscharen ausgezogen und hatten aus dem Lande Israel eine kleine Dirne gefangen weggeführt, und sie war vor dem Weibe Naamans.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Porro de Syria egressi fuerant latrunculi, et captivam duxerant de terra Israël puellam parvulam, quæ erat in obsequio uxoris Naaman: