Who in the Bible inherited the sickness of another?

Answer 1

This person was Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the prophet:-

2Ki 4:11 One day Elisha came for a visit; he went into the upper room and rested.

2Ki 4:12 He told his servant Gehazi....[NET Bible]

Naaman came to Elisha to be healed of leprosy:-

2Ki 5:1 Now Naaman, chief of the army of the king of Aram [Syria], was a man of high position with his master, and greatly respected, because by him the Lord had given salvation to Aram; but he was a leper.

Naaman was told if he washed in the Jordan River seven times he would be healed of his leprosy:-

2Ki 5:10 And Elisha sent a servant to him[Gehazi], saying, Go to Jordan, and after washing seven times in its waters your flesh will be well again and you will be clean.

2Ki 5:14 Then he went down seven times into the waters of Jordan, as the man of God had said; and his flesh became like the flesh of a little child again, and he was clean.

Naaman tried to give something to Elisha, but he refused to take anything :-

2Ki 5:15 Then he went back to the man of God[Elisha], with all his train, and, taking his place before him, said, Now I am certain that there is no God in all the earth, but only in Israel: now then, take an offering from me.

2Ki 5:16 But he [Elisha] said, By the life of the Lord whose servant I am, I will take nothing from you. And he [Naaman] did his best to make him take it but he would not.

However, if Elisha didn't want anything then Gehazi certainly did: he wanted a reward and reasoned that since Naaman was offering it anyway then he would be a fool not to take it and no-one would be the wiser:-

2Ki 5:20 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.

2Ki 5:21 So Gehazi went after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from his carriage and went back to him and said, Is all well?

2Ki 5:22 And he said, All is well: but my master has sent me, saying [this was a a bald-faced lie - Elisha had not said anything at all], 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?

2Ki 5:23 And Naaman said, Be good enough to take two talents. And forcing him to take them, he put two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to his two servants to take before him.

2Ki 5:24 When he [Gehazi] came to the hill, he took them from their hands, and put them away in the house; and he sent the men away, and they went.

Gehazi thought he had gotten away with all this without anyone knowing, because he had sneaked out while no-one was looking, and no-body would be able to prove anything. Then Elisha asked him where he'd been

2Ki 5:25 Then he [Gehazi] came in and took his place before his master. And Elisha said to him, Where have you come from, Gehazi? And he [Gehazi] said, Your servant went nowhere. [another lie.]

Gehazi would have thought "How did he even know I was out?":-

2Ki 5:26 Elisha replied, "I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants.[NET Bible]

Gehazi's punishment was that he would certainly receive a reward, but not the sort he was wanting: he was to receive Naaman's leprosy instead:-

2Ki 5:27 Because of what you have done, the disease of Naaman the leper will take you in its grip, and your seed after you, for ever. And he went out from before him a leper as white as snow.

So, Gehazi inherited the leprosy of. Naaman: but why was this done? It must be understood that the nations of Israel and Syria were enemies, and normally didn't want to have anything to do with each other. However, Naaman was desperate enough to try anything- even to go to his nation's enemies for healing - to get rid of his leprosy and to be clean again. Just as a person with leprosy is physically-unclean and contagious and so excluded from contact with non-lepers to avoid contaminating them, so a person with the disease of spiritual leprosy is thus full of sin and must be isolated from others to prevent his sin spreading among clean people.

After being healed of his leprosy and being made clean , or free from sin in the spiritual sense, Naaman was determined that he, personally, would never again become unclean by disobeying the True God who had healed him and return to the worship of false gods, or idols, again: Naaman wanted to flee sin and have nothing furthur to do with it:-

2Ki 5:17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.

2Ki 5:18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master [the king of Syria] goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

2Ki 5:19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

In contrast, Gehazi did not have leprosy to start with and was thus seen by God as clean, or without sin. However, he wanted the gifts and rewards that the (unclean) Naaman had, and he therefore turned his back on the Lord to satisfy his desire to knowingly sin. Unlike Naaman, Gehazi was prepared to accommodate sin in his life and to meet it half-way, so God gave Gehazi both what he wanted (the gifts) and what he didn't want (the uncleanness, or leprosy) that brought it all about. Once he knew the right to follow, Naaman didn't want to sin again, but Gehazi wanted the benefits of sin without the consequences: there is no such thing as a 'secret' sin - God always knows, and there are always consequences