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Naaman’s Healing and Gehazi’s Affliction: The Magical Background of 2 Kgs 5

In: Vetus Testamentum
Author:
Isabel Cranz University of Pennsylvania

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Online Publication Date:
14 Sep 2018
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Abstract

Scholars tend to view the healing of Naaman and the subsequent affliction of Gehazi in 2 Kgs 5 as polemic against magic and non-Israelite ideas about disease and healing. However, in analyzing the motif of צרעת as literary device it can be demonstrated that 2 Kgs 5 is not opposed to magic. My paper will show instead how the consultation between the Aramean and the Israelite kings, the depiction of Naaman’s healing, as well as the circumstances of Gehazi’s affliction draw from generic ideas about magic to bring into sharper focus the power of the prophet and the presence of Yahweh in the land of Israel.

Title:
Naaman’s Healing and Gehazi’s Affliction: The Magical Background of 2 Kgs 5
Article Type:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-12341335
Language:
English
Pages:
540–555
Keywords:
healing; affliction; צרעת; Naaman; Gehazi; Elisha; miracle stories; comparative approach; magic
In:
Vetus Testamentum
In:
Volume 68: Issue 4
Publisher:
Brill
E-ISSN:
1568-5330
Print ISSN:
0042-4935
Subjects:
Hebrew Bible, Biblical Studies, General, Jewish Studies

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