What Does Isaiah 12:4 Mean?
And on that day you will say, Extend your hands to the LORD, call upon his nature, make his doings known among the peoples, and speak aloud that his nature is lifted high.
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 in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.THE KEY
Praise makes the LORD’s nature public: his name is called, his deeds are made known, and his name is declared exalted.
THE MEANING
You give thanks, call on the LORD’s שֵׁם (shem, name as nature), and make his deeds known among peoples; praise moves from direct address into public declaration. His name stands exalted as his character becomes recognizable through what he does.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that praise is only private feeling or repeating a title; here, praise names the LORD’s nature through deeds spoken among peoples.
THE ROOT
הוֹדוּ
hodu
GROWS FROM
ידה
y-d-h
acknowledge, give thanks, praise
“Extend your hands to the LORD” in this verse is hodu. הוֹדוּ (hodu, give thanks/praise) comes from ידה (y-d-h, acknowledge/give thanks), while הוֹדִיעוּ (hodi’u, make known) comes from ידע (y-d-ʿ, know/recognize). They are distinct roots with a close sound, letting acknowledgment and disclosure answer each other: praise speaks, then the deeds make the nature named visible.
ALSO GROWS
todah: thanksgiving, gratitude
תּוֹדָה
The shared root shows praise as voiced gratitude and acknowledgment.
Yehudah: Judah, a name associated with praise and thanksgiving
יְהוּדָה
The praise root also appears in a personal name, linking praise with the nature a name carries.
הוֹדִיעוּ
hodi’u
GROWS FROM
ידע
y-d-ʿ
know, recognize, perceive; in this form, make known
“make his doings known among the peoples” in this verse is hodi’u. הוֹדִיעוּ (hodi’u, make known) is a causative form of יָדַע (yada, know/perceive): the deeds bring knowledge into view. The verse connects those deeds with שֵׁם (shem, name/nature), so what the LORD does makes the nature named recognizable.
ALSO GROWS
yada: know, perceive, recognize
יָדַע
The root verb shows that declaring is the act of bringing recognition.
da’at: knowledge, understanding
דַּעַת
This branch names what the public declaration produces: knowledge of the deeds and the nature they reveal.
קִרְאוּ
qir’u
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
call out, summon, proclaim
“call upon his nature” in this verse is qir’u. Calling on שֵׁם (shem, name/nature) addresses character, not merely a label. This root also forms words for public reading and gathering, so the name invoked becomes a declaration shared among peoples.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: a gathering or public reading
מִקְרָא
The branch carries the call into a shared setting, echoing the verse’s movement among peoples.
qeri’ah: a call or reading aloud
קְרִיאָה
The voiced call can become public proclamation of the name.
THE PATTERN
Praise moves from acknowledgment of the LORD to public recognition of his character through his deeds.
Extend your hands to the LORD, call out to his name, and make his deeds known among peoples.Recount his weight among the nations; his wonders among all peoples.But you are a chosen lineage, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, a people made his own, so that you may tell out the excellences of the one who called you out of darkness into his wondrous light.THE THREAD
Extend your hands to the LORD, call out to his name, and make his deeds known among peoples.Psalm 105:1 repeats Isaiah’s sequence through the same roots: ידה (y-d-h, give thanks), קרא (q-r-ʾ, call), and ידע (y-d-ʿ, make known). Its wording makes the movement plain: praise calls on the LORD’s nature, then tells what he does among the people.
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