2 Kings 5:12 (YLT)

Passage

Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? do I not wash in them and I have been clean?' and he turneth and goeth on in fury.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 5:10 and Elisha sendeth unto him a messenger, saying, `Go, and thou hast washed seven times in Jordan, and thy flesh doth turn back to thee--and be thou clean.

2 Kings 5:11 And Naaman is wroth, and goeth on, and saith, `Lo, I said, Unto me he doth certainly come out, and hath stood and called in the name of Jehovah his God, and waved his hand over the place, and recovered the leper.

2 Kings 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? do I not wash in them and I have been clean?' and he turneth and goeth on in fury.

2 Kings 5:13 And his servants come nigh, and speak unto him, and say, `My father, a great thing had the prophet spoken unto thee--dost thou not do <FI>it<Fi> ? and surely, when he hath said unto thee, Wash, and be clean.'

2 Kings 5:14 And he goeth down and dippeth in Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh doth turn back as the flesh of a little youth, and is clean.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "abana", "pharpar", "rivers", "damascus", "better", "than", "waters", and "israel". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "abana" and "pharpar", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And Naaman is wroth and goeth on..." into verse 13's "And his servants come nigh and speak...", so "abana" and "pharpar" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "abana" and "pharpar" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.