What Does 2 Kings 6:19 Mean?
And Elisha said to them, This is not the road, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man you seek. But he led them to Samaria.
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 Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.THE KEY
“Follow,” “bring,” and “led” all grow from one Hebrew root: the guide who names the way also directs the walkers.
THE MEANING
You can be moved toward a destination by someone whose words point elsewhere. Following a guide does not make the route truthful; the one directing your steps can control where you arrive.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this reverses is that a confident guide must be taking you toward the place you seek.
THE ROOT
לְכוּ
lekhu
GROWS FROM
הלך
To walk or go; in the causative forms here, to make someone go or to lead.
“Follow” in this verse is lekhu. The English gives three different actions, but Hebrew repeats forms of one root: the group walks after the speaker, he says he will cause them to go, and then he leads them. That shared root reveals that the person who offers the way is also directing their movement.
ALSO GROWS
lekhu: Go or walk; a command to a group.
לְכוּ
In context, “follow” is their walking after the speaker.
ve'olikha: And I will lead or bring you; a causative form of “go.”
וְאוֹלִיכָה
The speaker promises to cause their movement toward the man they seek.
vayolekh: And he led them; another causative form of “go.”
וַיּוֹלֶךְ
The same root closes the line with the guide directing them to Samaria.
THE PATTERN
The character of guidance appears in the destination it produces.
There is a way straight before a man, but its latter end is the ways of death.For the straighteners of this people make them wander, and those led by them are swallowed up.When he drives out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they perceive his voice.THE THREAD
Even though I walk through the valley of deepest darkness, I do not fear harm, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.“Walk” here comes from the same root, הלך (halakh), as “follow,” “bring,” and “led” in 2 Kings. In the psalm, the speaker walks; in 2 Kings, causative forms show the guide making others go, so the shared root brings the difference between walking and being led into view.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us