Illustration created for this project.
Gehazi
The servant of Elisha, struck with leprosy for greedily taking Naaman's reward.
What we know — and how we know it
Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Life, role & deeds
Scan by NYPL — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersJosephus retells the episode of Naaman's cure and Gehazi's secret extortion of gifts, followed by his affliction with leprosy, in his Jewish Antiquities. This is a first-century paraphrase of 2 Kings rather than independent attestation.
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 9.51-52 (Whiston 9.4.4), trans. Ralph Marcus, Loeb Classical Library (1937); a first-century paraphrase of 2 Kings 5, dependent on the biblical account.
ScholarlyLater rabbinic tradition treats Gehazi harshly, listing him among a small group of individuals barred from the world to come and using him as a byword for greed and for a teacher who repels a disciple.
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 90a and Sotah 47a (post-biblical Jewish tradition, not a historical source).
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe Hebrew name Gehazi (Gechazi) is usually parsed as gê-chazon, 'valley of vision,' though some read it as 'one who diminishes' or connect it to the servant's diminished, greedy character.
Standard Hebrew onomastic analysis; the etymology is debated among lexicographers (BDB, HALOT).
Where in scripture
2 KingsIn their own words — 7 recorded sayings
“So he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi made answer, Still there is this, she has no son and her husband is old.” — 2 Kings 4:14
“And Gehazi went on before them and put the stick on the child's face; but there was no voice, and no one gave attention. So he went back, and meeting him gave him the news, saying, The child is not awake.” — 2 Kings 4:31
“But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, Now my master has taken nothing from Naaman, this Aramaean, of what he would have given him: by the living Lord, I will go after him and get something from him.” — 2 Kings 5:20
“And he said, All is well: but my master has sent me, saying, Even now, two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim; will you give me a talent of silver and two changes of clothing for them?” — 2 Kings 5:22
“Then he came in and took his place before his master. And Elisha said to him, Where have you come from, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant went nowhere.” — 2 Kings 5:25
“Now the servant of the man of God, having got up early and gone out, saw an army with horses and carriages of war all round the town. And the servant said to him, O my master, what are we to do?” — 2 Kings 6:15
“And while he was giving the king the story of how Elisha had given life to the dead, the woman whose son had come back to life came to the king with a request for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son, whose life Elisha gave back to him.” — 2 Kings 8:5
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
In art
