What Does Isaiah 18:3 Mean?
All who settle upon the world and all who dwell on the land, see, when he lifts a banner on the mountains, and when he thrusts the ram's horn, hear and respond.
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
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.THE KEY
The signal is made unmistakable by meeting the eye on the mountains and the ear through the trumpet.
THE MEANING
You are addressed as one of the earth’s dwellers: the sign rises on the mountains, and the trumpet sounds. The call reaches through both sight and hearing, placing it in the open rather than in private perception.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that the signal is meant only for insiders or can remain unseen and unheard: it addresses all the world’s inhabitants and makes the sign visible and audible.
THE ROOT
נֵס
nēs
GROWS FROM
נסס
n-s-s
To raise or display as a standard or signal.
“lifts a banner” in this verse is nēs. The Hebrew word translated “ensign” can mean a banner or signal, and its word family includes a verb for displaying a banner. The mountain placement makes the sign deliberately visible.
ALSO GROWS
nēs: Banner, standard, signal.
נֵס
This is the word for the ensign raised where the world can see it.
lehitnōsēs: To be displayed or raised as a banner.
לְהִתְנֹסֵס
This related form underscores that the signal is meant to be openly displayed.
תִּשְׁמָעוּ
tishmeʿû
GROWS FROM
שמע
š-m-ʿ
To hear, listen, or attend.
“hear and respond” in this verse is tishmeʿû. This root can name both hearing and a report, something heard and passed on. The trumpet makes the call audible alongside the ensign’s visible signal.
ALSO GROWS
šāmaʿ: Hear, listen.
שָׁמַע
The verse calls its hearers to attend to the trumpet’s sound.
šĕmûʿāh: Report, news, or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The root links the act of hearing with what is carried as an audible report.
THE PATTERN
A signal made visible or audible can reach people at a distance and draw their attention.
You have given a lifted banner to those in awe of you, to be unfurled before the face of truth. Selah.And on the third day, in the morning, there were thunders and flashes, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the sound of the ram's horn was very strong, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.And he sends his messengers with a great trumpet, and they gather his picked-out ones from the four winds, from the edges of the heavens to their edges.THE THREAD
And he will lift a banner for the nations, and gather in the driven ones of Israel, and gather the scattered of Judah from the four wings of the earth.This verse uses the same Hebrew word נֵס (nēs), meaning a raised banner or signal. Isaiah 18:3 calls the whole world to see the ensign; here, that same signal stands among the nations as the scattered are gathered.
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