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.
Two mules' burden of earth - with which to make an altar (Exodus 20:24) to the God of Israel. What was his motive or his purpose in this proposal-whether he thought that God could be acceptably worshipped only on his own soil, or he wished, when far away from the Jordan, to have the earth of Palestine to rub himself with, which the Orientals use as a substitute for water; and whether, by making such a request of Elisha, he thought the prophet's grant of it would impart some virtue, or whether, like the modern Jews and Mohammedans, be resolved to have a portion of this holy earth for his nightly pillow, it as not easy to say. It is not strange to find such notions in so newly a converted pagan.