What Does Isaiah 26:13 Mean?
LORD our God, other masters and lords beside you have held sway over us; but by you alone we will call out your name.
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
O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.THE KEY
Other powers may claim mastery, but they do not get the final word on your nature; that belongs to the LORD alone.
THE MEANING
The reader knows the pressure of rival powers that claim authority over life. Yet the verse locates remembrance in the LORD alone: the reader recalls and speaks the nature held in his name, even under those claims.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that whatever has ruled over you gets to define who you are. Rival mastery does not become your nature.
THE ROOT
בְּעָלוּנוּ
be'alunu
GROWS FROM
בעל
to own, possess, or exercise mastery
“other masters” in this verse is be'alunu. The verb comes from בעל, ba’al, a master or owner, and sits beside אֲדֹנִים (adonim), “lords.” The Hebrew lets you hear mastery as a claim of possession, not merely an abstract kind of rule.
ALSO GROWS
ba'al: master, owner, husband
בַּעַל
This noun shows the root’s sense of mastery as a relationship of claim or possession.
be'alim: owners, masters, husbands
בְּעָלִים
The plural carries the same claim of authority that the verse says has pressed upon the speakers.
נַזְכִּיר
nazkir
GROWS FROM
זכר
to remember, recall, or bring to mind
“we will call out” in this verse is nazkir. “Make mention” grows from זכר (zakar), “remember, bring to mind,” so the movement is more than saying a label aloud. The name שֵׁם (shem), “name,” holds the LORD’s nature; recalling it keeps that nature present where other masters have claimed authority.
ALSO GROWS
zikaron: memorial, remembrance
זִכָּרוֹן
A memorial keeps something present in memory, echoing the verse’s act of recalling the LORD’s name.
hizkir: to mention, cause to remember
הִזְכִּיר
This form makes the link between speaking and bringing to remembrance explicit.
THE PATTERN
Rival powers can exert real dominion, yet the LORD’s nature remains the ground of remembrance and identity.
In that day, says the LORD, you will call me Ishi, my man, and you will call me no more Baali, my master.Set my steps firm in your word, and let no crookedness rule over me.For falling short shall not master you, for you are not under the instruction, but under favor.THE THREAD
God also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name for the ages, and this is my remembrance to all generations.Isaiah’s “make mention” and Exodus’ “memorial” both grow from זכר (zakar), “remember, bring to mind.” In both verses, the LORD’s name carries his nature into memory, keeping it present across generations and amid rival claims.
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