Abstract
The positive use of "remnant" in the First Testament characteristically refers to a self-conscious, self-aware, and often self-serving community that claims the future of Israel for itself (see Hasel). This article considers a "remnant" figure who is not self-conscious or self-aware, and certainly not self-serving. It refers to the "young girl" in 2 Kings 5:2-3. Her appearance in Israel's text is brief. She is assigned no important role by the text and is given no name. Moreover, her appearance is confined to two verses, and she is nowhere remembered or cited in any subsequent text. She is so incidental in her one narrative appearance that she is scarcely noticed. And yet, the article suggests, she is the pivotal character who makes this entire narrative of chapter 5 possible.
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