The Great Man is Humbled

(1) Naaman, the captain of the army of the king of Aram,

was a great man before his master

and held in esteem, because the LORD had granted victory to Aram.

He was also a mighty man of valor, a leper.

(10) As the cloud withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam stricken with snow-white scales! When Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she was stricken with scales. (11) And Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, account not to us the sin which we committed in our folly. (12) Let her not be as one dead, who emerges from his mother’s womb with half his flesh eaten away.”

(2) Once, when the Arameans were out raiding, they carried off a young girl from the land of Israel, and she became an attendant before Naaman’s wife.

(3) She said to her mistress, “I wish Master could come before the prophet in Samaria; he would cure him of his leprosy.”

(4) [Naaman] went and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said.

(5) And the king of Aram said, “Go to the king of Israel, and I will send along a letter.” He set out, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. (6) He brought the letter to the king of Israel. It read: “Now, when this letter reaches you, know that I have sent my courtier Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” (7) When the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and cried, “Am I God, to deal death or give life, that this fellow writes to me to cure a man of leprosy? Just see for yourselves that he is seeking a pretext against me!” (8) When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you rent your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will learn that there is a prophet in Israel.”

The king of Aram sent the letter to the king of Israel...for he thought that it was contingent upon him and the the prophet would not function unless under the king's instructions.

(9) So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the door of Elisha’s house. (10) Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” (11) But Naaman was angered and walked away. “I thought,” he said, “he would surely come out to me, and would stand and invoke the LORD his God by name, and would wave his hand toward the spot, and cure the affected part. (12) Are not the Amanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? I could bathe in them and be clean!” And he stalked off in a rage. (13) But his servants came forward and spoke to him. “Sir,” they said, “if the prophet told you to do something difficult, would you not do it? How much more when he has only said to you, ‘Bathe and be clean.’” (14) So he went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had bidden; and his flesh became like a little boy’s, and he was clean.

Rabbi Yehudah Halevi son of Rabbi Shalom says that tzaraat comes for 11 different reasons: for cursing God's name, for forbidden sexual relations, for murder, for telling his friend something that will not come to be, for excessive pride, for one who enters into a domain that isn't his, for lies, for stealing, for false oaths, for cursing the name of heaven and for idol worship...for excessive pride, this is Naaman, as it says that Naaman the head of the army of Aram was a great man. What does it mean that he was "great"? He had a huge ego because he was a military commander, and as a result he was afflicted with tzaraat.