Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 5:12

"Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage." — 2 Kings 5:12 (ASV)

Abana. —So the Hebrew text; Hebrew margin, Amana; and so in many manuscripts, the Complutensian Polyglot, Septuagint, Targum, and Syriac. (Compare Amana, Song of Solomon 4:8, as the name of a peak of Lebanon, which is also common in Assyrian inscriptions.) The river is identified with the present Burâda, or Barady (“the cold”), which descends from the Anti-Lebanon, and flows through Damascus in seven streams. (The Arabic version has Bardâ.)

Pharpar. — Parpar (“the swift”), the present Nahr el-Awâj, which comes down from the great Hermon, and flows by Damascus on the south. Both rivers have clear water, as they are mountain streams, whereas the Jordan is turbid and discoloured.

Rivers of Damascus. — Add the. Damascus is still famous for its wholesome water.

May I not wash in them, and be clean? —If mere washing in a river is enough, it would be easy to do that at home, and to greater advantage.