What Does 2 Kings 5:20 Mean?
But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Look, my master has held back this Naaman the Syrian, by not taking from his hands what he brought. But as the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.
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
But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.THE KEY
The Hebrew repeats one root for both Elisha’s not taking and Gehazi’s taking, exposing how restraint becomes pursuit in Gehazi’s mind.
THE MEANING
You hear desire turn Elisha’s restraint into a missed opportunity: Gehazi says his master spared Naaman, then makes his own plan to run after him and take. The verse exposes the moment an interpretation becomes an intention.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what someone else declines to take is unclaimed and therefore available to seize.
THE ROOT
וְלָקַחְתִּי
wə-lāqaḥtî
GROWS FROM
לקח
to take, receive, or take into one’s possession
Hebrew repeats ל־ק־ח in מִקַּחַת (miqqaḥat, taking) and וְלָקַחְתִּי (wə-lāqaḥtî, I will take). English makes Elisha’s refusal and Gehazi’s plan sound like separate acts, while the repeated root reveals the same taking first withheld and then pursued.
ALSO GROWS
lāqaḥ: to take or receive
לָקַח
This form shares the root’s three consonants and names the action Gehazi intends.
leqaḥ: teaching or instruction
לֶקַח
This noun from the same consonantal root names what is received; here Gehazi’s words expose the attitude behind what he intends to take.
THE PATTERN
Desire can turn what is seen or withheld into something to pursue and take.
And the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.And said to them, What will you give me, and I will hand him over to you? And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.But each one is tested by his own craving, dragged out and lured.THE THREAD
And he said to him, Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to take silver, and to take garments, and olive groves, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?The same root, לקח (lāqaḥ, take or receive), carries the movement from Elisha’s refusal to Gehazi’s intention. Elisha’s question repeats it while naming the silver, garments, land, animals, and people Gehazi has sought to acquire.
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