NAAMAN (Heb. Na'āman). - Name of an Israelite and of the commander of the army of Ben-hadad II, Aramean king of Damascus.
The first, in Gen. 46:21, is numbered with Bela among the sons of Benjamin. In the genealogy of Num. 26:38 ff., which is somewhat different and better, he is the son of Bela and grandson of Benjamin, as in 1 Chron. 8:4; for v. 7 (ibid.), the text is uncertain. N. was the head of the house that took its name from him.
The Syrian general, dear to his king (cf. 2 Kings 5:1), a contemporary of Ahab, Ahaziah and Joram, for having checked the invasions of Shalmaneser II, was struck with leprosy. A young Israelite woman, captured in a raid and become his slave, suggested that he go to Elisha (v.) for a cure. The king of Damascus himself took an interest in the matter, and N. with rich gifts went to the prophet. Without waiting for him, Elisha sent word that he should immerse himself seven times in the Jordan. N., who expected a solemn welcome and some hieratic act of the prophet upon his diseased body, angrily expressed his resentment. Calmed, he did as the prophet commanded him and was immediately healed. He then reached Elisha and offered him, but in vain, his rich gifts; he acknowledged the power of Yahweh, to whom alone he resolved to sacrifice; and for this reason he had his men load the earth he deemed necessary for the purpose, so as to immolate upon it, once he had returned to Syria, victims in honor of Yahweh. This detail reveals the Semitic mentality regarding the territoriality of each divinity and of the respective cult. On his return, N. was kind and generous with Gehazi (v.), who had run secretly to take advantage of the gifts refused by his master (2 Kings 5:1-27).
Jesus, in the synagogue of Nazareth, recalls the healing of N. to demonstrate to the Jews God's freedom in bestowing his gifts on the gentiles (Luke 4:27).
Bibliography2 works
Francesco Spadafora
ARCHAEOLOGY
In Christian iconography the story of N. was rarely represented. P. Markthaler in his report "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 depicted there in harmony with the biblical text: his meeting with the King of Israel (ibid., p. 73, fig. 33) and his visit to the house of the prophet Elisha (ibid., p. 75, fig. 34). Markthaler emphasizes that Farfa takes its name precisely from the river "Pharphar" that bathes Damascus, mentioned by N. (II Kings 5, 12). Another, much later example (mid-13th century) is in St. Maria-Lys in Cologne (P. Clemen, Die romanische Monumentalmalerei in dem Rheinlanden, Düsseldorf 1916, p. 575 and pl. 24).
Enrico Josi