What Does 2 Kings 15:5 Mean?
And the LORD struck the king, so that he was a leper until the day of his death, and dwelt in a house of release. And Jotham the king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the house, judging the people of the land.THE KEY
The Hebrew verb behind “smote” also carries the sense of touch, so the king’s blow is pictured as contact that reaches his body and leaves him separated.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s blow leaves the king leprous until death, living apart in a separate house. Meanwhile, Jotham takes charge of the household and judges the people. Affliction, separation, and the continuation of public responsibility stand together in the verse.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Rank does not make the body invulnerable: even the king is struck, made leprous, and separated until death.
THE ROOT
וַיְנַגַּע
waynaggaʿ
GROWS FROM
נגע
נגע (nāgaʿ) means to touch, reach, or come into contact; in this verb it means to strike or afflict.
“struck” in this verse is waynaggaʿ. English “smote” sounds like a single blow, while the root also carries the sense of touching or reaching. The verse holds contact and affliction together: the blow becomes the king’s lasting bodily condition.
ALSO GROWS
nāgaʿ: Touch, reach, or come into contact.
נָגַע
This is the root’s contact sense, giving the blow physical force in the verse.
negaʿ: A plague, affliction, or stroke.
נֶגַע
The same consonants name the affliction itself, showing how the root spans contact and its painful result.
שֹׁפֵט
shofet
GROWS FROM
שפט
שפט (shāphaṭ) means to judge, decide, or administer judgment.
This root connects the act of judging with the judgment and order that follow from it. While the king lives apart, Jotham’s role is described through active public judgment.
ALSO GROWS
shāphaṭ: To judge or decide.
שָׁפַט
This verb shares the root of Jotham’s title and makes the action behind “judging” visible.
mishpāṭ: Judgment, justice, or legal order.
מִשְׁפָּט
This branch shows the wider public order associated with the act Jotham carries out.
THE PATTERN
Leprosy places the afflicted person apart from shared life, and the separation is stated plainly.
All the days in which the stroke is in him, he shall be soiled; he is soiled. He shall sit alone; outside the camp shall his sitting place be.And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and settled in a loosened house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD; and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.And as he entered a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, standing far off.THE THREAD
And the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great blows, because of Sarai, Abram's wife.The same Hebrew root נגע (nāgaʿ, touch or afflict) stands behind “smote” here and “plagued” there. In both verses, contact from the LORD becomes bodily affliction.
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