A little child

You probably know the story. Naaman, a powerful Syrian general, was a leper. A captive slave girl mentioned that a prophet dwelt in Israel who could cure him. Naaman traveled there, and Elisha told him to dip himself in the Jordan seven times. He grumbled at this, thinking it was beneath his dignity, but in the end he did it—and he emerged healed! Note the verb ירד (“to go down, dip”) and its similarity to the name “Jordan,” ירדן. Most likely this is a wordplay (found elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible; e.g., Josh 3:13; 1 Kgs 2:8).

The beginning of the story emphasizes Naaman’s importance and power, and the little maid (נערה קטנה) is his polar opposite: no status, no office, no prominence (5:2). What a change then, when Naaman emerged from the Jordan the seventh time, with skin “like a נער קטן”— the same description (with masculine gender) as the little maid. The thought is, he became like her. On the surface this refers to his skin, but there is a deeper meaning as well.—George Schwab, in Devotions on the Hebrew Bible, 59–60