2 Kings 5:16 (DRB)

Passage

But he answered: As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And when he pressed him, he still refused.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 5:14 Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child: and he was made clean.

2 Kings 5:15 And returning to the man of God, with all his train, he came, and stood before him, and said: In truth, I know there is no other God, in all the earth, but only in Israel: I beseech thee, therefore, take a blessing of thy servant.

2 Kings 5:16 But he answered: As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And when he pressed him, he still refused.

2 Kings 5:17 And Naaman said: As thou wilt: but I beseech thee, grant to me, thy servant, to take from hence two mules' burden of earth: for thy servant will not henceforth offer holocaust, or victim, to other gods, but to the Lord.

2 Kings 5:18 But there is only this, for which thou shalt entreat the Lord for thy servant; when my master goeth into the temple of Remmon, to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand: if I bow down in the temple of Remmon, when he boweth down in the same place, that the Lord pardon me, thy servant, for this thing.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "answered", "lord", "liveth", "before", "stand", "receive", "none", and "pressed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "answered" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And returning to the man of God..." into verse 17's "And Naaman said As thou wilt but...", so "answered" and "lord" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "answered" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.