This page gives you ready-to-use study questions for 2 Kings 5, the story of Naaman the Syrian commander who is healed of leprosy after he dips himself in the Jordan River at the word of Elisha. It is written for a small group, a Sunday school class, or personal study. Each question comes with a discussion note so a leader can move straight from the text into conversation.
2 Kings 5 at a Glance
The chapter opens with Naaman, a respected military leader in Aram, who suffers from leprosy. A young Israelite servant girl taken in a raid tells his wife about the prophet Elisha, and Naaman travels to Israel with a letter and gifts. The king of Israel is alarmed, thinking the request is a trap, but Elisha asks that Naaman be sent to him.
Elisha does not come out to meet Naaman. He sends a simple instruction to wash seven times in the Jordan. Naaman is offended at first, but his servants persuade him to obey, and he is healed. He then returns to offer gifts, which Elisha refuses. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, secretly takes payment and lies about it, and the leprosy falls on him instead.
Observation Questions
Use these questions first, before anyone offers an opinion. They keep the group close to the text and help everyone notice details they might otherwise skim past. Ask each question, give people a moment to look at the passage, and then invite quick answers before moving on.
2 Kings 5:1
Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
(WEB)
Read this at the start to frame the story. Ask the group to notice that Naaman’s greatness and his disease are named in the same breath, which sets up the whole chapter.
2 Kings 5:3
She said to her mistress, “I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”
(WEB)
This is the servant girl’s testimony that starts the chain of events. Reading it aloud draws attention to how God uses the voice of someone with little power.
2 Kings 5:10
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.”
(WEB)
Elisha’s simple command is the center of the healing. Reading it slowly helps the group feel the contrast with what Naaman had expected.
2 Kings 5:14
Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
(WEB)
The moment of obedience and restoration is recorded here. Reading it aloud gives the group a clear picture of what happens when Naaman finally does what he was told.
2 Kings 5:15
He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, “See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”
(WEB)
Naaman’s confession is the spiritual high point of the chapter. Reading it aloud allows the group to hear his conclusion in his own words.
Memory Verse for 2 Kings 5
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we thank you that you heal in ways that are often simple and humble, and that you do not need our expectations to act. Help us to listen when someone speaks truth to us, even when it stings. Guard our hearts from greed and from the pull of easy gain, and make us people who serve you with clean hands. Give us the willingness to obey the small instructions we have been given, and let our lives confess that there is no God like you. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
