Francis Frith

Waterfall on the Abana, near Damascus, c.1865, Albumen silver print, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; 84.XO.826.5.37, Image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

Foreign Waters

Commentary by Stephen John Wright

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Read by Ben Quash

In one of the most famous tantrums in the Bible, Naaman declares that he does not want to bathe in the waters of the Jordan. ‘Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?’ (2 Kings 5:12). Anger comes to him at Elisha’s cold reception, which he directs towards the river he is instructed to bathe in. The entire project nearly comes undone, but for the intervention of his servants who keep him on track.

Francis Frith was a Victorian photographer, who became famous for his pictures of the biblical lands. This image is one of forty in a folio of images published in 1865 as F. Frith’s Photo-Pictures from the Lands of the Bible. Illustrated by Scripture Words. Whereas it was medieval practice to illuminate Scripture with images, Frith’s collection provides one of the earliest and most popular examples of illuminating photographs with Scripture. He trades on the apparent literalism of the photograph. Frith describes his desire to allow the viewer to vicariously witness the lands of the Bible through his lens (Van Haaften 1980: vii).

Taken near Damascus, in this photograph we observe a portion of the Abana forming a waterfall above a stone arch aqueduct. The water’s smooth surface, softened by the slow exposure time required by Frith’s techniques, places the water in sharp contrast with the rest of the photograph. Photography compresses time into a single image. The photograph renders the river anew.

Naaman desires the comfort of the familiar, but the God of Israel gives to him the new. To remain with the familiar would be to remain with old rivers and old diseases. Instead, the strange waters of Israel restore and renew. They enable the recognition of God’s identity. Just as the photograph renders a familiar landscape in a strange way, through the healing waters the believer sees the world in new ways.

 

References

Van Haaften, Julia. 1980. Egypt and the Holy Land in Historic Photographs: 77 Views by Francis Frith (New York: Dover Publications)

See full exhibition for 2 Kings 5

2 Kings 5

Revised Standard Version

5 Naʹaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little maid from the land of Israel, and she waited on Naʹaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samarʹia! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4So Naʹaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the maiden from the land of Israel.” 5And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten festal garments. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naʹaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7And when the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

8 But when Eliʹsha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you rent your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naʹaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the door of Eliʹsha’s house. 10And Eliʹsha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11But Naʹaman was angry, and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper. 12Are not Abaʹna and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him; and he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” 16But he said, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17Then Naʹaman said, “If not, I pray you, let there be given to your servant two mules’ burden of earth; for henceforth your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. 18In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” 19He said to him, “Go in peace.”

But when Naʹaman had gone from him a short distance, 20Gehaʹzi, the servant of Eliʹsha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naʹaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after him, and get something from him.” 21So Gehaʹzi followed Naʹaman. And when Naʹaman saw some one running after him, he alighted from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?” 22And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Eʹphraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; pray, give them a talent of silver and two festal garments.’ ” 23And Naʹaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two festal garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they carried them before Gehaʹzi. 24And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and put them in the house; and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25He went in, and stood before his master, and Eliʹsha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehaʹzi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 26But he said to him, “Did I not go with you in spirit when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants? 27Therefore the leprosy of Naʹaman shall cleave to you, and to your descendants for ever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.