Unsung Heroines-Naaman’s Maid

Introduction: Sometimes children know more than we think they do. This “little maid” knew about Elisha the prophet, and how God performed miracles through him. We know nothing more about her than what’s mentioned in these verses but through her one recorded sentence, she brought hope to a hopeless situation.

Text: 2 Kings 5:1-4, KJV: 1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

Thoughts: Once the Ten Northern Tribes broke away from Judah and Benjamin, after Solomon died, it seems there was hardly any time of peace for them. Between wars with Judah, the southern kingdom, and wars with Syria (Aram in some translations), Israel North had plenty of problems. It was during one of these wars or raids when the Syrian soldiers captured a “little maid” from Israel as a captive. This girl found herself as part of Naaman’s household.

But even though she had been taken from her home in Israel, with limited prospects at best of ever returning there, she still kept knowledge of Elisha in her mind. Just why she never mentioned the God of Elisha is not known, however.

And that knowledge was helpful beyond words when she and Naaman’s wife discovered Naaman had come down with leprosy. This disease could and did affect, infect, and plague anyone, anywhere, and in some cases this disease was about as close to a living death as anyone could imagine. Chapters 13-14 of Leviticus mention various symptoms of leprosy, as well as what to do if a leper were healed. We don’t know what kinds of rules were in place for those of a foreign country.

So, one young girl, about whom we know nothing except she was a captive from Israel in the land of Syria, remembered or knew enough about one of the LORD’s prophets to share this with her master’s wife. The rest of 2 Kings 5 cover the events of Naaman’s journey to Samaria, the Jordan, and eventually faith in the God of Israel too.

Only one sentence, but that was enough to make this unknown maiden an unsung heroine!

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).