What Does 2 Kings 5:20 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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 when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.THE THREAD
And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, 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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