Two mules and a load of dirt

[Sissy]

What's the deal with the dirt????

Story from 2 Kings 5

Naaman, a pagan commander of the army of the king of Syria develops leprosy.
He was favored by the Syrian king.
In the household of Naaman was a Jewish girl that was taken captive during a Syrian raid and served his wife.
The Jewish girls tells them that the prophet of YHWH in Israel (Elisha, who succeeded Elijah) can cure him.
So the Syrian king tell him to go and provides gifts for Naaman to take.

Naaman arrives with his company of men at the house of Elisha expecting to be greeted with the customary greeting of his status.
But Elisha doesn't even go out to greet him but only sends a servant to tell him to go was in the Jordan River 7 times.

Naaman is a bit perturbed by the lack of respect form Elisha, but eventually goes and washes 7 times in the Jordan River and is healed instantly.

He returns to the house of Elisha saying he now knows there is no god except YHWH and offers Elisha the gifts he brought, but Elisha refuses his gifts.


Here's where it gets real interesting .......
Naaman then asks if it would be OK if he loaded 2 mules with as much dirt as they could carry.

2 Kings 5 ESV​

(17) Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD.​

(18) In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.”​

​

Why would he want dirt, one may ask?

Perhaps it is because in ancient cultures it was believed the land itself was associated with the god of that land, so it would be a holy relic (so to speak) of that god.
Verse 18 above seems to indicate that the relic of that holy dirt would associate him with YHWH only, even if he were in the presence of another god in another land.
After all, he was a favored servant of the king of Syria and would assist the king on his visit to temple of the king's god.

What was Naaman going to do with that dirt?
We are not told specifically.
Perhaps he wore a little leather bag of it tied around his neck or attached to his clothing somehow.
Or perhaps he would sprinkle a bit of it where he stood assisting his king in that temple.
Or any other number of other ancient customs.


In the NT, Jesus equates Naaman as a man of faith, along with another pagan widow of Sidon that was healed and thus believed in YHWH. (Luke 4)
This gives rise to what sort of "faith" was required in those days to be considered one of the faithful of YHWH.
For it is doubtful that Naaman ever worshipped in a Jewish synagogue or ever read the Torah or ever kept any of the feast of YHWH or was ever circumcised.
The only thing that seems to have made him accepted as a faithful man of YHWH was his belief that YHWH was the only Most High God above all other gods.

 

[Mr E]

What's the deal with the dirt????

Story from 2 Kings 5

Naaman, a pagan commander of the army of the king of Syria develops leprosy.
He was favored by the Syrian king.
In the household of Naaman was a Jewish girl that was taken captive during a Syrian raid and served his wife.
The Jewish girls tells them that the prophet of YHWH in Israel (Elisha, who succeeded Elijah) can cure him.
So the Syrian king tell him to go and provides gifts for Naaman to take.

Naaman arrives with his company of men at the house of Elisha expecting to be greeted with the customary greeting of his status.
But Elisha doesn't even go out to greet him but only sends a servant to tell him to go was in the Jordan River 7 times.

Naaman is a bit perturbed by the lack of respect form Elisha, but eventually goes and washes 7 times in the Jordan River and is healed instantly.

He returns to the house of Elisha saying he now knows there is no god except YHWH and offers Elisha the gifts he brought, but Elisha refuses his gifts.


Here's where it gets real interesting .......
Naaman then asks if it would be OK if he loaded 2 mules with as much dirt as they could carry.

2 Kings 5 ESV​

(17) Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD.​

(18) In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.”​

​

Why would he want dirt, one may ask?

Perhaps it is because in ancient cultures it was believed the land itself was associated with the god of that land, so it would be a holy relic (so to speak) of that god.
Verse 18 above seems to indicate that the relic of that holy dirt would associate him with YHWH only, even if he were in the presence of another god in another land.
After all, he was a favored servant of the king of Syria and would assist the king on his visit to temple of the king's god.

What was Naaman going to do with that dirt?
We are not told specifically.
Perhaps he wore a little leather bag of it tied around his neck or attached to his clothing somehow.
Or perhaps he would sprinkle a bit of it where he stood assisting his king in that temple.
Or any other number of other ancient customs.


In the NT, Jesus equates Naaman as a man of faith, along with another pagan widow of Sidon that was healed and thus believed in YHWH. (Luke 4)
This gives rise to what sort of "faith" was required in those days to be considered one of the faithful of YHWH.
For it is doubtful that Naaman ever worshipped in a Jewish synagogue or ever read the Torah or ever kept any of the feast of YHWH or was ever circumcised.
The only thing that seems to have made him accepted as a faithful man of YHWH was his belief that YHWH was the only Most High God above all other gods.

Interesting story eh?

Imagine working for a King who worshipped some false god-- or worse, a Satan worshipper, but you are a military leader and you've sworn an oath to serve, so serve you must. And you are the body guard for that King and must protect and serve and be at his side whenever you are on duty, no matter what he does or where he goes. And where does he go? He goes into a temple to worship his god, and so there you must go too. As the King bows, you must also bow--- but you know this is a false god, because you were healed of leprosy by the hand of a prophet of what you now know is the One and Only true God (of Israel) whom you went to see and there you were healed.

Like folks who have visited the beaches of Normandy and want to bring some sand back as a remembrance perhaps. The funny thing is, many countries make it illegal to bring back soil or sand, even in small amounts. Or even if it is not illegal to take, it is probably illegal to bring it back to your country-- you get stuck in Customs, because your country doesn't want it's soil contaminated by that foreign soil.

I wonder if Naaman, because he took as much as he did, or as much as he could- maybe he planted a little garden. That's what I would do, and I'd grow a little garden patch in Israeli dirt with Israeli seed and that's where I would go to worship this One true God that'd I'd come to know in that land.

The cool thing is that Elijah gave him a total pass to do what he needed to do for his duty with that King of Syria. Like-- go ahead, submit phony COVID documentation- do what ya gotta do.... we both know you aren't really bowing down to that false god Rimmon.

 

[Ted T]

What's the deal with the dirt????

(18) In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.”

I think it possible that he could have had a set place in the temple behind his master and maybe dug out the dirt of that place and replaced it with the dirt he brought with him so that when he bowed he was kneeling on YHWH's ground, dedicated to HIM, and bowing to YHWH.

 

[Mattathias]

All dirt, no matter where it is, belongs to YHWH.

 

[Mattathias]

Interesting story eh?

Imagine working for a King who worshipped some false god-- or worse, a Satan worshipper, but you are a military leader and you've sworn an oath to serve, so serve you must. And you are the body guard for that King and must protect and serve and be at his side whenever you are on duty, no matter what he does or where he goes. And where does he go? He goes into a temple to worship his god, and so there you must go too. As the King bows, you must also bow--- but you know this is a false god, because you were healed of leprosy by the hand of a prophet of what you now know is the One and Only true God (of Israel) whom you went to see and there you were healed.

Like folks who have visited the beaches of Normandy and want to bring some sand back as a remembrance perhaps. The funny thing is, many countries make it illegal to bring back soil or sand, even in small amounts. Or even if it is not illegal to take, it is probably illegal to bring it back to your country-- you get stuck in Customs, because your country doesn't want it's soil contaminated by that foreign soil.

I wonder if Naaman, because he took as much as he did, or as much as he could- maybe he planted a little garden. That's what I would do, and I'd grow a little garden patch in Israeli dirt with Israeli seed and that's where I would go to worship this One true God that'd I'd come to know in that land.

The cool thing is that Elijah gave him a total pass to do what he needed to do for his duty with that King of Syria. Like-- go ahead, submit phony COVID documentation- do what ya gotta do.... we both know you aren't really bowing down to that false god Rimmon.

When I returned to the US from my second trip to Africa, I brought a rock with me that I picked up on the shore of Lake Victoria in Kenya. When the US Customs officer asked me if I had anything to declare, a scene from It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown flashed through my mind. I came this close to blurting out, “I got a rock” but was able to stifle the impulse.

Why did I want this small piece of Kenya? My father was a geologist, and I was raised with an interest in geology, particularly Paleontology - which I pursued throughout my youth and into middle age as a hobby. Every time I look at the rock I’m reminded of the people and the places I interacted with while I was there. My experience wasn’t as dramatic as Naaman’s but I suspect his action was a similar act of remembrance.

I didn’t want or need “two mule loads” of Kenya, but had I been cured of leprosy while in Kenya … I never would have cleared Customs.

My question for Naaman: Why dirt? Why not water from the Jordan River? Dirt would have been easier to store, transport and retain than water. Maybe the dirt was from the riverbank? Close enough?

 

[Sissy]

Interesting story eh?

Imagine working for a King who worshipped some false god-- or worse, a Satan worshipper, but you are a military leader and you've sworn an oath to serve, so serve you must. And you are the body guard for that King and must protect and serve and be at his side whenever you are on duty, no matter what he does or where he goes. And where does he go? He goes into a temple to worship his god, and so there you must go too. As the King bows, you must also bow--- but you know this is a false god, because you were healed of leprosy by the hand of a prophet of what you now know is the One and Only true God (of Israel) whom you went to see and there you were healed.

Like folks who have visited the beaches of Normandy and want to bring some sand back as a remembrance perhaps. The funny thing is, many countries make it illegal to bring back soil or sand, even in small amounts. Or even if it is not illegal to take, it is probably illegal to bring it back to your country-- you get stuck in Customs, because your country doesn't want it's soil contaminated by that foreign soil.

I wonder if Naaman, because he took as much as he did, or as much as he could- maybe he planted a little garden. That's what I would do, and I'd grow a little garden patch in Israeli dirt with Israeli seed and that's where I would go to worship this One true God that'd I'd come to know in that land.

The cool thing is that Elijah gave him a total pass to do what he needed to do for his duty with that King of Syria. Like-- go ahead, submit phony COVID documentation- do what ya gotta do.... we both know you aren't really bowing down to that false god Rimmon.

It is very interesting and you hardly hear anyone talk about the dirt portion of the story and what it could mean.

By reading up on ancient cultures it makes it a little easier to understand some of the strange things in scripture.
It was a common belief of the ancients that the gods were territorial, and the land itself was associated closely with them.
Even in the legend of King Arthur you got the notion that when he was weakened and sickly the land of Camelot was too,

And yeah, Naaman remained a good servant to the king even though the king worshipped another god.
Likewise, Daniel was a good servant to the king of Babylon.
And as the teaching of the risen Lord Jesus Christ through the apostle Paul that said for servants/slaves to always be obedient to their masters. (Eph 6:5-8)

Oh, and you might want to edit your last sentence as the prophet was Elisha, not Elijah.

 

[Sissy]

I think it possible that he could have had a set place in the temple behind his master and maybe dug out the dirt of that place and replaced it with the dirt he brought with him so that when he bowed he was kneeling on YHWH's ground, dedicated to HIM, and bowing to YHWH.

I wish we knew exactly what he did with the dirt.
Meanwhile, there are many things that we could speculate he did.
Especially when considering ancient culture practices.

 

[Sissy]

All dirt, no matter where it is, belongs to YHWH.

But there was one territory in particular that YHWH said He would place His name ---- in the land of Israel.

 

[Mr E]

When I returned to the US from my second trip to Africa, I brought a rock with me that I picked up on the shore of Lake Victoria in Kenya. When the US Customs officer asked me if I had anything to declare, a scene from It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown flashed through my mind. I came this close to blurting out, “I got a rock” but was able to stifle the impulse.

Why did I want this small piece of Kenya? My father was a geologist, and I was raised with an interest in geology, particularly Paleontology - which I pursued throughout my youth and into middle age as a hobby. Every time I look at the rock I’m reminded of the people and the places I interacted with while I was there. My experience wasn’t as dramatic as Naaman’s but I suspect his action was a similar act of remembrance.

I didn’t want or need “two mule loads” of Kenya, but had I been cured of leprosy while in Kenya … I never would have cleared Customs.

My question for Naaman: Why dirt? Why not water from the Jordan River? Dirt would have been easier to store, transport and retain than water. Maybe the dirt was from the riverbank? Close enough?

I had similar thoughts. I've collected rocks and sea shells as little reminders of places I've been. I was thinking- why so much dirt? Why not grab some of that magic water instead? -- Then I thought, well no one would mind or take exception to him filling his camelback with water, but if they saw him loading dirt, that might raise eyebrows, so he asked permission.

Maybe he took some of each, but only had to ask for the dirt so he didn't offend.

 

[Bradley D]

"He wished to worship the God of Israel, so far as possible, on the soil of Israel, Jehovah’s own land. He would therefore build his altar to Jehovah on a foundation of this earth, or construct the altar itself therewith." (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)

 

[shroom]

It is very interesting and you hardly hear anyone talk about the dirt portion of the story and what it could mean.

By reading up on ancient cultures it makes it a little easier to understand some of the strange things in scripture.
It was a common belief of the ancients that the gods were territorial, and the land itself was associated closely with them.

I think that's the answer. Naaman was in one sense taking God back to his home.

 

[shroom]

All dirt, no matter where it is, belongs to YHWH.

While that's true, the custom was a real thing.