2 Kings 5:5

Easy-to-Read Version

Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman went to Israel. He took 750 pounds of silver, 6000 pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes as gifts.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Therefore, the king of Aram said, “Go, and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.”

Hebrew Names Version
The king of Aram said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Yisra'el. He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

King James Version
And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

English Standard Version
And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

New Century Version
The king of Aram said, "Go ahead, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left and took with him about seven hundred fifty pounds of silver, as well as one hundred fifty pounds of gold and ten changes of clothes.

New English Translation
The king of Syria said, "Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten suits of clothes.

Amplified Bible
Then the king of Aram (Syria) said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel (Jehoram the son of Ahab)." So he left and took with him ten talents of silver and 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

New American Standard Bible
Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothes.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the King of Aram sayde, Goe thy way thither, and I will send a letter vnto the King of Israel. And he departed, and tooke with him ten talents of siluer, and sixe thousand pieces of golde, and ten change of rayments,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he went and took in his hand ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.

Contemporary English Version
the king replied, "Go ahead! I will give you a letter to take to the king of Israel." Naaman left and took along seven hundred fifty pounds of silver, one hundred fifty pounds of gold, and ten new outfits.

Complete Jewish Bible
The king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Isra'el." He set out, taking with him 660 pounds of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes.

Darby Translation
And the king of Syria said, Well! go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [shekels] of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

George Lamsa Translation
And the king of Aram said to him, Come, go, I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of garments.

Good News Translation
The king said, "Go to the king of Israel and take this letter to him." So Naaman set out, taking thirty thousand pieces of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of fine clothes.

Lexham English Bible
So the king of Aram said, "Go, I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He went and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

Literal Translation
And the king of Syria said, Go, go in, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he went and took in his hand ten talents of silver, and six thousand of gold, and ten changes of garments.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The kynge of Syria sayde: Go thy waye then, & I wyl wrytte a letter vnto the kynge of Israel. And he wente, and toke with him ten hundreth weighte of syluer, and sixe thousande guldens, & ten chaunge of rayment,

American Standard Version
And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

Bible in Basic English
So the king of Aram said, Go then; and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he went, taking with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the king of Syria saide: Go thy way thither, and I wyll send a letter vnto the king of Israel. And he departed, and toke with him ten talentes of siluer, and sixe thousand peeces of golde, and ten chaunges of raymentes,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the king of Aram said: 'Go now, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel.' And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

King James Version (1611)
And the king of Syria said, Goe to, Goe, and I will send a letter vnto the king of Israel. And hee departed, and tooke with him ten talents of siluer, and sixe thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the king of Syria said to Naiman, Go to, go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he went, and took in his hand ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

English Revised Version
And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

Berean Standard Bible
"Go now," said the king of Aram, "and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the kyng of Syrie seide to hym, Go thou, and Y schal sende lettris to the kyng of Israel. And whanne he hadde go forth, and hadde take with hym ten talentis of siluer, and sixe thousynde goldun platis, `ether floreyns, and ten chaungyngis of clothis,

Young's Literal Translation
And the king of Aram saith, `Go thou, enter, and I send a letter unto the king of Israel;' and he goeth and taketh in his hand ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of garments.

Update Bible Version
And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the king of Syria said, Come, go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

World English Bible
The king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

New King James Version
Then the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

New Living Translation
"Go and visit the prophet," the king of Aram told him. "I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel." So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

New Life Bible
The king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman went and took with him silver weighing as much as ten men, 6,000 pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothes.

New Revised Standard
And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the king of Syria said - Go, get in, that I may send a letter unto the king of Israel. So he went, and took in his hand ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king of Syria said to him: Go; and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment;

Revised Standard Version
And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten festal garments.

THE MESSAGE
"Well then, go," said the king of Aram. "And I'll send a letter of introduction to the king of Israel." So he went off, taking with him about 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothes.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.

Contextual Overview

¹ Naaman was the captain of the army of the king of Aram. He was very important to his king because the Lord used him to lead Aram to victory. Naaman was a great and powerful man, but he was also sick with leprosy. ² The Aramean army sent many groups of soldiers to fight in Israel. One time they took a little girl from the land of Israel. This girl became a servant of Naaman's wife. ³ She said to his wife, "I wish that my master would meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. He could heal Naaman of his leprosy." ⁴ Naaman went to the king and told him what the Israelite girl said. ⁵ Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman went to Israel. He took 750 pounds of silver, 6000 pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes as gifts. ⁶ Naaman took the letter from the king of Aram to the king of Israel. The letter said: "Now this letter is to show that I am sending my servant Naaman to you. Cure his leprosy." ⁷ When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes to show he was sad and upset. He said, "Am I God? I don't have the power over life and death. So why did the king of Aram send a man sick with leprosy for me to heal? Think about it, and you will see that it is a trick. The king of Aram is trying to start a fight." ⁸ Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes. So Elisha sent this message to the king: "Why did you tear your clothes? Let Naaman come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

go: Genesis 11:3, Genesis 11:7, Ecclesiastes 2:1, Isaiah 5:5, James 4:13, James 5:1

and took: 2 Kings 8:8, 2 Kings 8:9, Numbers 22:7, Numbers 22:17, Numbers 22:18, Numbers 24:11-13, 1 Samuel 9:8, 1 Kings 13:7, 1 Kings 22:3, Acts 8:18-20

with him: Heb. in his hand

ten talents of silver: This, at 353. 11s. 10+d. the talent, would amount to 3,535. 18s. 9d.

six thousand: If shekels are meant, as the Arabic reads, then this, at 1. 16s. 5d. each, will amount to 10,925.; and the whole to 14,464. 18s. 9d.: besides the value of the ten changes of raiment.

ten changes: Genesis 45:22, Judges 14:12, James 5:2, James 5:3

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 9:7 - what shall 1 Kings 10:2 - a very great train 1 Kings 14:3 - And take 2 Kings 5:22 - a talent Jeremiah 18:11 - go to Mark 1:40 - a leper

Cross-References

Genesis 3:19
You will work hard for your food, until your face is covered with sweat. You will work hard until the day you die, and then you will become dust again. I used dust to make you, and when you die, you will become dust again."

Genesis 5:7
After Enosh was born, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:8
So Seth lived a total of 912 years; then he died.

Genesis 5:10
After Kenan was born, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:11
So Enosh lived a total of 905 years; then he died.

Genesis 5:12
After Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son named Mahalalel.

Genesis 5:14
So Kenan lived a total of 910 years; then he died.

Genesis 5:21
After Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Methuselah.

Genesis 5:22
After Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God for 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:32
After Noah was 500 years old, he had sons named Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the king of Syria said, go to, go,.... On what Naaman related to him from what the maid had said, he urged him by all means to go directly to Samaria:

and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel; recommending him to use his interest in his behalf; this was Jehoram the son of Ahab:

and he departed; set out on his journey immediately, as soon as he could conveniently:

and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold; partly for the expenses of his journey, and partly to make presents to the king of Israel's servants, and especially to the prophet; a talent of silver, according to Brerewood d, was three hundred and seventy five pounds of our money; but, according to Bishop Cumberland's e exact calculation, it was three hundred and fifty and three pounds eleven shillings and ten and an half pence the pieces of gold are, by the Targum, called golden pence, and a golden penny, according to the first of the above writers f, was of the value of our money fifteen shillings; so that these amounted to 4500 pounds sterling:

and ten changes of raiment; both for his own use, and presents.

d De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4. e Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 4. p. 120. f Ut supra, (De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num.) c. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Six thousand pieces of gold - Rather, “six thousand shekels of gold.” Coined money did not exist as yet, and was not introduced into Judea until the time of Cyrus. Gold was carried in bars, from which portions were cut when need arose, and the value was ascertained by weighing. If the gold shekel of the Jews corresponded, as some think, to the doric of the Persians, the value of the 6,000 shekels would be about 6,837 British pounds If the weight was the same as that of the silver shekel (see Exodus 38:24 note), the value would exceed 12,000 British pounds.

The ancient practice of including clothes among gifts of honor in the East Genesis 41:42; Esther 6:8; Daniel 5:7 continues to the present day.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 5:5. The king of Syria said — He judged it the best mode of proceeding to send immediately to the king, under whose control he supposed the prophet must be, that he would order the prophet to cure his general.

Ten talents of silver — This, at £353 11s. 10 1/2d. the talent, would amount to £3,535 18s. 9d.

Six thousand pieces of gold — If shekels are here meant, as the Arabic has it, then the six thousand shekels, at £1 16s. 5d. will amount to £10,925; and the whole, to £14,460 18s. 9d. sterling: besides the value of the ten caftans, or changes of raiment. This was a princely present, and shows us at once how high Naaman stood in the esteem of his master.