Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your offspring forever.” He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.
World English Bible
2 Kings 5:27
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Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
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A spoken curse can inflict leprosy on someone and all of their descendants permanently.
Biology · 2 Kings 5:27
The scientific record: Leprosy is transmitted by bacterial contact and is not hereditary. (CDC)
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Did God give Gehazi leprosy?
2 Kings 5:27 has Elisha curse Gehazi with leprosy permanently — "unto thee and unto thy seed forever" — and the narrator says Gehazi went out "a leper as white as snow." 2 Kings 8:4 then has Gehazi conversing face-to-face with the king of Israel, which the Levitical purity laws would have made impossible for an actual leper.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
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The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
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This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"2 Kings 5:27 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/2-kings/5/27?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).