In my Bible reading, I read through the Greed of Gehazi in 2 Kings 5:20-27 and later through the Woman from Shunem Returns Home found in 2 Kings 8:1-6. Both sections include Gehazi. Below are the scriptures for you to skim over.

“Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman 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.” So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’” And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. And 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. He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” But he said to him, “Did not my heart go 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, male servants and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.”‬‬

2 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭20‬-‭27‬ ‭ESV

“Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My Lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.””‬‬

2 Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV

In the Biblical timeline, I don’t think chapter 8 was very long after chapter 5. Gehazi gained leprosy as a punishment for his greedy behavior toward Naaman and shortly after is still the servant of Elisha and in close proximity to these individuals.

Later on in 2 Kings, King Azariah (sometimes referred to Uzziah) is struck with leprosy that lasts the rest of his life. He actually lives in isolation in a separate house during that time.

“In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. And the Lord touched the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the household, governing the people of the land.”

2 Kings 15:1-5

We don’t know exactly what happened to Gehazi because the Bible doesn’t say. Anything we read about it is most likely just speculation. I was struck by the contrast when I later read about this king who was separated from the others. A king. Yet Gehazi, who was a servant to prophet Elisha, was kept in close quarters with the others. There was no mention of isolation like Azariah experienced.

Did Gehazi repent? Did Azariah repent? We aren’t told explicitly in Scripture that either did.

Gehazi was corrupt and let greed direct his path rather than God. He lied, cheated and stole from a man who Elisha had just helped.

Azariah though did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Even with that being said, the Lord was angered by his sacrifices to other gods and gave him leprosy.

In either case, unfair things happen in life and we all make mistakes. What do we do with them? Do we repent? We face consequences- whether good or bad. How we approach life’s events matters to God and where we set our sights makes a difference.