Matthew Poole and continuators on 2 Kings 5:17

17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, [illegible: 1+ letters]e 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.

Wherewith I may make an Altar of Earth, as was usual, Exod. 20. 24. He desires the Earth of this Land, because he thought it more holy and acceptable to God, and proper for his Service; or, because he would by this Token profess and declare his conjunction with the Israelites in the Worship of God, and constantly put himself in mind of his great Obligations to that God from whose Land this was taken. And though he might freely have taken this Earth without asking any leave, yet he rather desires it from the Prophets Gift, as believing that he who had put so great a Vertue into the Waters of Israel, could put as much into the Earth of Israel, and make it as useful and beneficial to him in a better way. And these thoughts, though extravagant and groundless, yet were excusable in an Heathen, and a Novice, who was not yet thoroughly instructed in the True Religion.