What Does Isaiah 23:18 Mean?
And her trade and her wages shall be set apart to the LORD; they shall not be stored, nor hidden away; for her trade shall be for those who settle before the face of the LORD, to eat their fill and for clothing that lasts.
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 her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.THE KEY
What is set apart to the LORD flows into food enough and lasting covering for people, rather than being stored away.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now through the destination of wealth: what commerce earns and labor is paid is set apart to the LORD, yet it is neither hoarded nor stored. It becomes food enough to satisfy and clothing that endures for those who dwell before the LORD. Here, devotion takes material form as provision.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that what is sacred must be locked away from ordinary need. Here, what is set apart becomes food and covering for people.
THE ROOT
קֹדֶשׁ
qōdeš set-apartness
GROWS FROM
קדשׁ
To set apart, consecrate, or mark as belonging to the sacred.
The verse calls the merchandise itself set apart to the LORD, then says it is not stored away. Its sacredness appears in where it goes: toward the sustenance of people who dwell before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
qādōš: Set apart, sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
The same root describes what belongs to the LORD; here that status reaches the proceeds of trade.
miqdāš: A set-apart place, a sanctuary.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary and the merchandise share the language of being set apart, bringing sacredness into the material world of food and clothing.
סַחְרָהּ
saḥrāh her merchandise
GROWS FROM
סחר
To trade or carry on commerce; the word family describes goods and those who trade them.
The verse takes the proceeds of exchange and gives them a destination beyond accumulation. Trade’s yield becomes provision for those dwelling before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
sōḥēr: A merchant or trader.
סוֹחֵר
The merchant and the merchandise belong to the same trade family; the verse traces the goods from commerce to the people they sustain.
səḥōrāh: Merchandise or trade goods.
סְחֹרָה
This related form makes the commercial sense explicit and highlights that the goods’ final use is food and clothing, not storage.
לְשָׂבְעָה
ləśovʿāh to satiety
GROWS FROM
שבע
To be full or satisfied.
“eat their fill” in this verse is ləśovʿāh to satiety. The word points to satiety: enough food for hunger to be met. The verse measures provision by a satisfied body, not by an ever-growing store.
ALSO GROWS
śāvēaʿ: Full or satisfied.
שָׂבֵעַ
This form names the condition the provision reaches: a person has eaten enough.
śōvaʿ: Fullness or satisfaction from food.
שֹׂבַע
This noun makes the verse’s measure concrete: the goods are for eating until there is enough.
THE PATTERN
What is set apart to God becomes provision that meets people’s bodily needs.
The Levite, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates, shall come and eat and be filled, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands which you do.Is it not to break your bread for the hungry, and to bring the wandering poor into your house? When you see the naked, cover him, and do not hide yourself from your own flesh.and set them down at the feet of the sent ones, and it was given out to each as anyone had need.THE THREAD
The Levite, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates, shall come and eat and be filled, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands which you do.Isaiah’s “sufficiently” and Deuteronomy’s “be satisfied” share the Hebrew root שבע (ś-b-ʿ), fullness or satiety. In both verses, provision reaches its measure when people have enough to eat.
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