Naaman (Hebrew: Na'aman)

NAAMAN (Hebr. Na'āman). — Name of an Israelite and of the commander of the army of Benhadad II, Aramaean king of Damascus.

The first, in Gen. 46:21, is listed with Bela among the sons of Benjamin. In the somewhat different and more reliable genealogy of Num. 26:38 ff., he is the son of Bela and grandson of Benjamin, as in I Chron. 8:4; as for V. 7 (ibid.), the text is uncertain. N. was the head of the clan that took its name from him.

The Syrian general, beloved by his king (cf. II Kings 5:1), a contemporary of Ahab, Ahaziah, and Joram, was struck with leprosy after having checked the invasions of Shalmaneser II. A young Israelite woman, captured in a raid and made his slave, suggested that he seek healing from Elisha (v.). The king of Damascus himself took an interest in the matter, and N., with rich gifts, went to the prophet. Without receiving him, Elisha sent word that he should immerse himself seven times in the Jordan. N., who had expected a solemn reception and some hieratic gesture by the prophet over his diseased body, angrily expressed his resentment. Once calmed, he did what the prophet commanded him and was immediately healed. He then went to Elisha and offered him, but in vain, his rich gifts; he acknowledged the power of Jahweh, to whom alone he resolved to sacrifice; and for this reason he had his men load up the earth that he deemed necessary for the purpose, so that, once he had returned to Syria, he might sacrifice upon it victims in honor of Jahweh. This detail reveals the Semitic conception of the territorial character of each divinity and of the worship proper to each. On his return, N. was kind and generous toward Gehazi (v.), who had secretly followed him in order to take advantage of the gifts refused by his master (II Kings 5:1–27).

Jesus, in the synagogue of Nazareth, recalls the healing

of N. in order to demonstrate to the Jews God’s freedom in bestowing his gifts upon the Gentiles (Luke 4:27).

ARCHAEOLOGY. — In Christian iconography, the story of N. has been represented only rarely. P. Markthaler, in his paper “On the Recent Discoveries in the Imperial Abbey of Farfa” (Riv. di archeol. crist., 5 [1928], pp. 37–88), illustrated two episodes of the leprous officer represented there in accordance with the biblical text: his encounter with the King of Israel (ibid., p. 73, fig. 33) and his visit to the house of the prophet Eliseo (ibid., p. 75, fig. 34). Markthaler emphasizes that Farfa derives its name precisely from the river “Pharphar,” which bathes Damascus and is mentioned by N. (II Reg. 5, 12). Another, much later example (mid-thirteenth century) is found in S. Maria-Lys in Cologne (P. Clemen, Die romanische Monumentalmalerei in dem Rheinlanden, Düsseldorf 1916, p. 575 and pl. 24). Enrico Josi