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62-550: According to 2 Kings 5 in the Bible , Naaman was a commander of the army of Aram. He was a good commander and was held in favor because of the victory that God brought him. However, Naaman suffered from tzaraath , a skin disease often translated as " leprosy ". Naaman's wife had a servant girl from the Northern Kingdom of Israel ("Samaria") who said that a prophet there would be able to heal him. Naaman tells his lord this and he

124-629: A clay prism a revolt against him by Moab together with Philistia , Judah , and Edom ; but on the Taylor prism , which recounts the expedition against Hezekiah , Kammusu-Nadbi ( Chemosh-nadab ), King of Moab, brings tribute to Sargon as his suzerain. Musuri, King of Moab, paid too a tribute to Assarhaddon at the same time as Manasseh of Judah , Qosgabar of Edom and other kings of the Levant . They send building materials to Nineveh . Moab militarily supported Assurbanipal during his campaign against Egypt and

186-537: A "high place" for Chemosh on the hill before Jerusalem ( 1 Kings 11:7 ), which the Bible describes as "this detestation of Moab". The altar was not destroyed until the reign of Josiah ( 2 Kings 23:13 ). The Moabite Stone also mentions (line 17) a female counterpart of Chemosh, Ashtar-Chemosh . The Moabite language was spoken in Moab. It was a Canaanite language closely related to Biblical Hebrew , Ammonite and Edomite , and

248-470: A clan descended from Pahath-Moab , whose name means "ruler of Moab". The Moabite Ruth is regarded as a prototype of a convert to Judaism . At the disruption of the kingdom under the reign of Rehoboam , Moab seems to have been absorbed into the northern realm. It continued in vassalage to the Kingdom of Israel until the death of Ahab which according to E. R. Thiele 's reckoning was in about 853 BCE, when

310-481: A good example: in a case like this, a prophet accepts nothing, clarifying that great power and wealth cannot force or buy the support of prophets and God, nor must prophets allowed themselves be used as tools for any interest groups (cf. Micah 3:5). Gehazi , Elisha's servant (also mentioned in 2 Kings 4 :27–37; 8 :4–5) became the complementary negative example: cunningly accepting the presents brought by Naaman for himself, but then receiving condemnation by his master for

372-437: A period of significant Aramean control over Israel (verse 2; Aram could give Israel orders, verses 6–7), perhaps during the time of Ben-Hadad II and Jehoram , or during the time of Hazael of Aram (reigned 842–796 BCE) Jehu (reigned 841–814 BCE), Jehoahaz (reigned 814–798 BCE) or Joash of Israel (reigned 798–782 BCE; cf. 2 Kings 8:11–12; 10:32–33; 13:22). Elisha's reputation as a miracle-worker spread to Aram through

434-623: A period of thirty days there in mourning ( Deuteronomy 34:6–8 ). According to the Book of Judges, the Israelites did not pass through the land of the Moabites ( Judges 11:18 ), but conquered Sihon's kingdom and his capital at Heshbon . After the conquest of Canaan the relations of Moab with Israel were of a mixed character, sometimes warlike and sometimes peaceable. With the tribe of Benjamin they had at least one severe struggle, in union with their kindred

496-506: A rebellious place that refuses to recognize Egypt's control over Canaan and, together with the Shasu of Mount Seir , conducted raids in Egypt. Pharaoh sent troops to the area and suppressed the rebellion - in the inscriptions of Ramesses II, the inhabitants are shown as having hairstyles identical to those of neighboring Canaanites (long hair collected and arranged) and not a braided hairstyle like

558-517: A return to the law because men had been marrying women who had not been converted at all ( Ezra 9:1–2 , 12; Nehemiah 13:23–25 ). The heir of King Solomon was Rehoboam , the son of an Ammonite woman, Naamah ( 1 Kings 14:21 ). On the other hand, the marriages of the Bethlehem Ephrathites (of the tribe of Judah ) Mahlon and Chilion to the Moabite women Orpah and Ruth ( Ruth 1:2–4 ), and

620-458: A series of ditches between themselves and the enemy, and during the night these channels were miraculously filled with water which appeared red as blood in the morning light. According to the biblical account, the crimson color deceived the Moabites into thinking that the Israelites, and their allies, had attacked one another. Eager to acquire plunder, they were ambushed and defeated by the Israelites ( 2 Kings 3 ). According to Mesha's inscription on

682-474: A war against the Moabites, who were under tribute to Israel. The Moabites were subdued, but seeing Mesha 's act of offering his own son (and singular heir) as a propitiatory human sacrifice on the walls of Kir of Moab filled Israel with horror, and they withdrew and returned to their own land. According to the Book of Jeremiah , Moab was exiled to Babylon for his arrogance and idolatry. According to Rashi , it

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744-576: A young female Israelite prisoner-of-war (verse 3), whose information not only helped her master, but also her people in the service of her God. In helping the Aramean general, Elisha simultaneously helped the Israelite king. The Aramean king sent a lot of money and ordered his vassal in Samaria to do impossible task: to immediately produce the necessary miracle to heal Naaman (verse 6–7), but Elisha somehow knew about

806-510: Is his father". Despite a scarcity of archaeological evidence, the existence of the Kingdom of Moab prior to the rise of the Israelite state has been deduced from a colossal statue erected at Luxor by pharaoh Ramesses II , in the 13th century BCE. The statue lists Mu'ab among a series of nations conquered during a campaign. Four inscriptions from the time of Ramesses II mention Mw-i-bw as

868-448: Is impossible to identify the king to whom Naaman was sent with a letter. Ewald thinks the king referred to was Jehoahaz , while Schenkel suggests Jehu, but the general view is that it was Jehoram. The passage "for through him GOD had granted victory to Aram" (II Kings 5:1) upon which the identification of Naaman with Ahab's slayer is based by the Chazal is referred by G. Rawlinson, however, to

930-528: Is sent to Israel with a letter to the king. The king of Israel did not know what to do and believes the request was the beginning of a plot to start a war, but Elisha sent a message to the King, advising that the King tell Naaman to come to see him. Elisha then told Naaman to go bathe in the Jordan River seven times and he would be clean. Naaman was angry and would have left, but his servant asked him to try it and he

992-717: Is the fifth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible . The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records an astonishing healing of Naaman , an Aramean general, by

1054-475: Is uncertain. The earliest gloss is found in the Koine Greek Septuagint ( Genesis 19:37 ) which explains the name, in obvious allusion to the account of Moab's parentage, as ἐκ τοῦ πατρός μου ("from my father"). Other etymologies which have been proposed regard it as a corruption of "seed of a father", or as a participial form from "to desire", thus connoting "the desirable (land)". Rashi explains

1116-779: The Dead Sea Scrolls , that is, 6Q4 (6QpapKgs; 150–75 BCE) with the extant verse 26. There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint , made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus ( B ; G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} ; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus ( A ; G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} ; 5th century). This story of Elisha healing neighboring Aram's highest-ranking military officer, Naaman, of an uncurable illness happened in

1178-453: The Kingdom of Moab is attested to by numerous archaeological findings, most notably the Mesha Stele , which describes the Moabite victory over an unnamed son of King Omri of Israel , an episode also noted in 2 Kings 3 . The Moabite capital was Dibon . According to the Hebrew Bible , Moab was often in conflict with its Israelite neighbours to the west. The etymology of the word Moab

1240-408: The Mesha Stele , however, he was completely victorious and regained all the territory of which Israel had deprived him. This battle is the last important date in the history of the Moabites as recorded in the Bible. In the year of Elisha's death they invaded Israel ( 2 Kings 13:20 ) and later aided Nebuchadnezzar in his expedition against Jehoiakim ( 2 Kings 24:2 ). Allusions to Moab are frequent in

1302-446: The prophetical books ( Isa 25:10 ; Ezek 25:8–11 ; Amos 2:1–3 ; Zephaniah 2:8–11 ). Two chapters of Isaiah (15 and 16) and one of Jeremiah (48) are devoted to the "burden of Moab". Its prosperity and pride, which the Israelites believed incurred the wrath of God , are frequently mentioned ( Isa 16:6 ; Jer 48:11–29 ; Zephaniah 2:10 ), and their contempt for Israel is once expressly noted ( Jer. 48:27 ). Moab would be dealt with during

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1364-612: The Ammonites and the Amalekites ( Judges 3:12–30 ). The Benjaminite shofet Ehud ben Gera assassinated the Moabite king Eglon and led an Israelite army against the Moabites at a ford of the Jordan river, killing many of them. The Book of Ruth testifies to friendly relations between Moab and Bethlehem , one of the towns of the tribe of Judah . By his descent from Ruth, David may be said to have been part Moabite. He committed his parents to

1426-480: The Bible refers to them as the "people of Chemosh" ( Num 21:29 ; Jer 48:46 ). During the Iron Age, several Moabite cultic sites have been found in places such as Deir Alla , Damiyah , Ataruz or Khirbet al-Mudayna. According to II Kings , at times, especially in dire peril, human sacrifices were offered to Chemosh, as by Mesha, who gave up his son and heir to him ( 2 Kings 3:27 ). Nevertheless, King Solomon built

1488-511: The Book of Ruth to settle the dispute as the rule had been forgotten since the time of Boaz . Another interpretation is that the Book of Ruth is simply reporting the events in an impartial fashion, leaving any praise or condemnation to be done by the reader. The Babylonian Talmud in Yevamot 76B explains that one of the reasons was the Ammonites did not greet the Children of Israel with friendship and

1550-565: The Holy of Holies" (Ex R. viii. 3). He was assassinated by two of his servants, one of whom was the son of an Ammonite woman and the other the offspring of a Moabite ( 2 Chron. 24:26 ); for God said: "Let the descendants of the two ungrateful families chastise the ungrateful Joash" ( Yalk. , Ex. 262). Moab and Ammon were the two offspring of Lot 's incest with his two daughters as described in Gen. 19:30–38 . Jehoshaphet subsequently joined Jehoram of Israel in

1612-512: The Israelite religion. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Moabites were not hospitable to the Israelites who exited Egypt and hired Balaam to curse them. As a consequence, male Moabites were excluded by Torah law from marrying Jewish women. The term "tenth generation" used in connection with that prohibition is considered an idiom, used for an unlimited time, as opposed to the third generation, which allows an Egyptian convert to marry into

1674-586: The Israelites is linked to the conquests by the Jewish Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus . During that period, the Moabites were called the "Arabian Moabites". In Ezekiel 25:9 the boundaries are given as being marked by Beth-jeshimoth (north), Baal-meon (east), and Kiriathaim (south). That these limits were not fixed, however, is plain from the lists of cities given in Isaiah 15–16 and Jeremiah 48 , where Heshbon , Elealeh , and Jazer are mentioned to

1736-587: The Jordan River as a mikveh and finds himself healed. Naaman returns to Elisha with lavish gifts, which Elisha flatly refuses to accept. Naaman also renounces his former god Rimmon after being cured by Elisha, acknowledging only the God of Israel . He does, however, ask for soil from a mizbeḥ (a sacrificial altar from an Israelite temple ) to be given him to take back home and that the God of Israel pardon him when he enters

1798-484: The Moabites hired Balaam to curse them. The difference in the responses of the two people led to God allowing the Jewish people to harass the Moabites (but not go to war) but forbade them to even harass the Ammonites ( Deuteronomy 23:3–4 ). Jehoash was one of the four men who pretended to be gods. He was persuaded thereto particularly by the princes, who said to him. "Wert thou not a god thou couldst not come out alive from

1860-403: The Moabites refused to pay tribute and asserted their independence, making war upon the kingdom of Judah ( 2 Chronicles 22:1 ). After the death of Ahab in about 853 BCE, the Moabites under Mesha rebelled against Jehoram , who allied himself with Jehoshaphat , King of the Kingdom of Judah , and with the King of Edom. According to the Bible, the prophet Elisha directed the Israelites to dig

1922-520: The Moabites to the country south of the river Arnon, which formed their northern boundary ( Numbers 21:13 ; Judges 11:18 ). God renewed his covenant with the Israelites at Moab before the Israelites entered the Promised Land ( Deuteronomy 29:1 ). Moses died there ( Deut 34:5 ), prevented by God from entering the Promised Land. He was buried in an unknown location in Moab and the Israelites spent

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1984-451: The Shasu from later reliefs that contained the name Moab; a possible explanation is that Mw-i-bw, if it was indeed the land of Moab, was at that time inhabited by a pre-Moabite population, whereas the historical Moabites settled in the area only in the 12th century BCE. Na'aman concluded, however, that the identification of Mw-i-bw with the biblical land of Moab can no longer be upheld; the former

2046-443: The act and afflicted by Naaman's former sickness. Elisha has been directing Naaman's thoughts to YHWH alone as the healer of the disease, so the prophet was out of sight until Naaman was fully cured and steadfastly refused any present to remove any indication that he was in any way instrumental in the healing. Naaman must have been very impressed with the act and pledged to worship YHWH. However, Gehazi's actions possibly obliterated

2108-480: The community. The Talmud expresses the view that the prohibition applied only to male Moabites, who were not allowed to marry born Jews or legitimate converts. Female Moabites, when converted to Judaism, were permitted to marry with only the normal prohibition of a convert marrying a kohen (priest) applying. However, the prohibition was not followed during the Babylonian captivity , and Ezra and Nehemiah sought to compel

2170-474: The district below sea level in the tropical depths of the Jordan valley ( Numbers 22:1 ). References to the religion of Moab are scant. Most of the Moabites followed the ancient Semitic religion like other ancient Semitic-speaking peoples , and the Book of Numbers says that they induced the Israelites to join in their sacrifices ( Num 25:2 ; Judges 10:6 ). Their chief god seems to have been Chemosh , and

2232-434: The door who tells Naaman to cure the tsaraath by dipping himself seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman had expected the prophet himself to come out to him and to perform some kind of impressive ritual magic ; he angrily refuses and prepares to go home unhealed. Only after Naaman's slaves suggest to their master that he has nothing to lose by at least giving it a try since the task is a simple and easy one, he takes his bath in

2294-632: The future proximity of YHWH whose power had convinced him. Since this God resides only in Israel, he took two mule-loads of Israelite earth to Damascus in order to be able to sacrifice to YHWH there (verses 15a, 17; a sincere 'earthbound understanding of God') with the blessing of Elisha who parted from Naaman in peace (verse 19). The young girl had much reason to doubt the power of YHWH because of her abduction, but nonetheless showed her confidence in YHWH when informing her mistress about Elisha , in contrast to Naaman who

2356-399: The healing of his subject Naaman. Naaman proceeds with the letter to King Jehoram. The king of Israel suspects in this impossible request a pretext of Aram for later starting a war against him and tears his clothes. When the prophet Elisha hears about this, he sends for Naaman. Rather than personally receiving Naaman when the latter arrives at Elisha's house, Elisha merely sends a messenger to

2418-502: The impression. In listing of all the Gehazi's plan to purchase using the ill-gotten talents Elisha showed Gehazi that he has been reading all his thoughts. Moab Moab ( / ˈ m oʊ æ b / ) was an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan . The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea . The existence of

2480-626: The king of Aram, was a prominent man before his lord and respected, for through him had the Lord given victory to Aram; and the man was a great warrior, and he was a mezora [ מְצֹרָע ]. Now the Arameans went out in bands and captured from the land of Israel a young girl, who ministered to Naaman's wife. According to the narrative, he is called a mezora , a person affected by the skin disease tzaraath ( Hebrew : צָרַעַת , romanized :  ṣāraʿaṯ ). Often translated as leprosy , this illness or affliction,

2542-570: The letter ( seper ; literally "scroll") from Aram and sent his own letter to the Israelite king asking Naaman to be directed to the prophet for treatment. Naaman who expected respectful conventional behavior of miracle-healing was understandably unhappy that Elisha did not meet him personally and only prescribed instructions to ritually bathe in the Jordan (verses 9–12), yet after advised by his more sensible soldiers (verse 13), Naaman complied and immediately experienced complete healing (verse 14). Naaman quickly returned to his benefactor, wishing to ensure

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2604-400: The marriage of the latter, after her husband's death, to Boaz ( Ruth 4:10–13 ) who by her was the great-grandfather of David , are mentioned with no shade of reproach. The Talmudic explanation, however, is that the language of the law applies only to Moabite and Ammonite men (Hebrew, like all Semitic languages, has grammatical gender ). The Talmud also states that the prophet Samuel wrote

2666-609: The north of Beth-jeshimoth; Madaba , Beth-gamul , and Mephaath to the east of Baalmeon ; and Dibon , Aroer , Bezer , Jahaz , and Kirhareseth to the south of Kiriathaim. The principal rivers of Moab mentioned in the Bible are the Arnon , the Dibon or Dimon, and the Nimrim . In the north are a number of long, deep ravines , and Mount Nebo , famous as the scene of the death of Moses ( Deuteronomy 34:1–8 ). The territory occupied by Moab at

2728-519: The period of its greatest extent, before the invasion of the Amorites , divided itself naturally into three distinct and independent portions: the enclosed corner or canton south of the Arnon, referred to in the Bible as "field of Moab" ( Ruth 1:1,2,6 ). The more open rolling country north of the Arnon, opposite Jericho and up to the hills of Gilead , called the "land of Moab" ( Deuteronomy 1:5; 32:49 ) and

2790-628: The pharaoh Taharqa . The status of vassal of Assyria allows Moab to benefit in return from the support of Assyria against the nomadic tribes of the Arabian desert , and in particular against the Qedarites. King Kamōš-ʿaśa seemed to have defeated Ammuladi, king of Qedar . After the Roman conquest of the Levant by Pompey in 63 BCE, Moab lost its distinct identity through assimilation. Early modern travellers in

2852-622: The prophet Elisha . This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language . It is divided into 27 verses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). A fragment containing a part of this chapter in Hebrew was found among

2914-450: The protection of the king of Moab (who may have been his kinsman), when hard pressed by King Saul . (1 Samuel 22:3,4) But here all friendly relations stop forever. The next time the name is mentioned is in the account of David's war, who made the Moabites tributary ( 2 Samuel 8:2 ; 1 Chronicles 18:2 ). Moab may have been under the rule of an Israelite governor during this period; among the exiles who returned to Judea from Babylonia were

2976-410: The redactor of II Kings did not concern himself to indicate the time when this event occurred. The rabbinical tradition that Naaman was the archer ( 1 Kings 22:34 ) who mortally wounded Ahab seems to have been adopted by Josephus. If the tradition is correct, the king Naaman served must have been Hadadezer, but since the interval between the death of Ahab and the curing of Naaman's leprosy is not known, it

3038-518: The region included Ulrich Jasper Seetzen (1805), Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1812), Charles Leonard Irby and James Mangles (1818), and Louis Félicien de Saulcy (1851). According to the biblical account, Moab and Ammon were born to Lot and Lot's elder and younger daughters, respectively, in the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah . The Bible refers to both the Moabites and Ammonites as Lot's sons, born of incest with his daughters ( Genesis 19:37–38 ). The Moabites first inhabited

3100-510: The rich highlands at the eastern side of the chasm of the Dead Sea, extending as far as Wadi Mujib to Wadi Hasa , from which country they expelled the Emim , the original inhabitants ( Deuteronomy 2:11 ), but they themselves were afterward driven southward by warlike tribes of Amorites , who had crossed the river Jordan . These Amorites, described in the Bible as being ruled by King Sihon , confined

3162-446: The temple of Rimmon as part of his obligations to the King of Aram. According to Rabbinic teaching, Naaman was the archer who drew his bow at a venture and mortally wounded Ahab , King of Northern Israel. This event is alluded to in 2 Kings 5:1: "for through him GOD had granted victory to Aram" ( 2 Kings 5:1 ), and therefore the Aramean king, Naaman's master, was Hadadezer. Naaman is represented as vain and haughty, on account of which he

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3224-538: The time of the Messiah's rulership according to the prophets. The book of Zephaniah states that Moab would become "a permanent desolation". Moab is also made reference to in the 2 Meqabyan , a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . In that text, a Moabite king named Maccabeus joins forces with Edom and Amalek to attack Israel, later repenting of his sins and adopting

3286-684: The triumph over Shalmaneser III in the Battle of Qarqar by an alliance of Aramean and Arab states led by Hadadezer. Naaman is also mentioned in Luke 4 :27 of the New Testament , in Greek as "Ναιμὰν ὁ Σύρος" or "Naaman the Syrian", a leper. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ Christian theology depicts Naaman as an example for

3348-554: The will of God to save people who are considered by men as less than pious and unworthy of salvation. The Septuagint , the Greek Old Testament, uses the word baptizein for the dipping that heals the heathen Naaman from the skin disease called tzaraath . The new baptism takes place in the Jordan River where Jesus of Nazareth , also called the Christ by his followers, was baptized many centuries later. 2 Kings 5 2 Kings 5

3410-507: The word Mo'ab to mean "from the father", since ab in Hebrew and Arabic and other Semitic languages means "father". He writes that as a result of the immodesty of Moab's name, God did not command the Israelites to refrain from inflicting pain upon the Moabites in the manner in which he did with regard to the Ammonites . Fritz Hommel regards Moab as an abbreviation of Immo-ab = "his mother

3472-399: Was addressed by his servants in 2 Kings 5:13 . Naaman was a ger toshav , not a perfect proselyte, having accepted only some of the commandments. The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael , however, places Naaman's conversion above Jethro 's. As the object of the narrative of Naaman's sickness and restoration to health is, apparently, to form a link in the long series of miracles performed by Elisha,

3534-445: Was also due to their gross ingratitude even though Abraham , Israel's ancestor, had saved Lot , Moab's ancestor from Sodom . Jeremiah prophesies that Moab's captivity will be returned in the end of days . The book of Zephaniah states that "Moab will assuredly be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah—Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines, and a permanent desolation." (2:9). The prophecy regarding their defeat by

3596-407: Was healed. A servant of Elisha, Gehazi , seeing his master refuse gifts from Naaman, ran after him and falsely asked for clothing and silver for visitors. Tzaraath afflicted Gehazi and would remain in his descendants. Naaman is mentioned in 2 Kings 5 of the Hebrew Bible as "Naaman, captain of the army of the King of Aram" ( וְ֠נַעֲמָן שַׂר־ צְבָ֨א מֶֽלֶךְ־אֲרָ֜ם ). Now Naaman, the general of

3658-653: Was more likely well to the north. An 8th-century BCE inscription seems to indicate that the Kingdom of Moab expanded into the eastern part of the Jordan Valley after a successful campaign against the Ammonites . In the Nimrud clay inscription of Tiglath-pileser III (r. 745–727 BCE), the Moabite king Salmanu (perhaps the Shalman who sacked Beth-arbel in Hosea 10:14 ) is mentioned as tributary to Assyria . Sargon II mentions on

3720-499: Was not today's leprosy. Leprosy as known today did not come to Israel until 327 to 325 BCE, after the return of the troops after the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great . When the Hebrew slave-girl who waits on his wife tells her of a Jewish prophet in Samaria who can cure her master, he obtains a letter from the King of Aram to King Jehoram, in which the Aramean king asks Jehoram to arrange for

3782-410: Was responsible to subjugate Israel and take away slaves but powerless about his disease. This passage is an appendix to the main story, the healing of Naaman, with the same purpose of hailing the glory of God and Elisha, but here in the teaching of disciples: what can a prophet accept as recompense for services to God and at what point is it considered selling one's soul? In verses 15b,16, Elisha showed

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3844-509: Was stricken with leprosy. Tanhuma says that Naaman was stricken with leprosy for taking an Israelite maiden and making her his wife's servant. Naaman is understood as Moab in the expression "Moab would be my washbasin" in Psalm 60 ( Psalms 60:10 ), which the Rabbis regard as an allusion to Naaman's bathing in the Jordan; the appellation "Moab" is a play on the word "abi" (= "my father"), by which Naaman

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