What Does Isaiah 29:13 Mean?
And the Lord says, Because this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips give me weight, but their heart has gone far from me, and their awe of me is a command of men, trained.
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
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:THE KEY
A mouth can draw near to God while the heart itself makes distance, and that distance can hide beneath awe taught by people.
THE MEANING
Your mouth can offer God respectful language while your heart is actively distant; speech alone does not make the inner person near. The verse also names awe toward God that is taught through human precepts, so devotion can sound God-directed while being shaped by people.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that saying the right things or learning religious rules from people proves the heart is near God.
THE ROOT
רִחַק
riḥaq
GROWS FROM
רחק
To be distant or to put at a distance.
“has gone far from me” in this verse is riḥaq. The Hebrew verb carries the movement that the KJV expresses as removed far: the heart itself has become distant from God. The verse sets that inward movement against the mouth’s approach, so the split is between two directions, not merely between words and feelings.
ALSO GROWS
rāḥōq: Far, distant.
רָחוֹק
This adjective shares the root of the heart’s distancing, showing how English can express one Hebrew root as both an action and a state.
hirḥiq: To put far away, remove.
הִרְחִיק
This related verb makes the heart’s distancing an active movement, echoing the KJV’s removed.
כִּבְּדוּנִי
kibbeduni
GROWS FROM
כבד
To be heavy or weighty; to treat as weighty, honor.
“give me weight” in this verse is kibbeduni. The lips give God weight in speech, but the heart is distant. The root lets honor carry the sense of recognizing weight, exposing the gap between words that assign God importance and an inner life that does not draw near.
ALSO GROWS
kavod: Weight, glory.
כָּבוֹד
The same root ties honor to weight: the lips can speak as though God matters greatly.
kaved: Heavy, weighty.
כָּבֵד
This branch makes the root’s physical sense audible beneath the idea of giving honor.
יִרְאָתָם
yir'atham
GROWS FROM
ירא
To fear or stand in awe.
“awe of me” in this verse is yir'atham. Because God is the one named, this word can carry the sense of awe. Here that awe is taught by human precepts, exposing a devotion whose shape comes from people even as it is directed toward God.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Fear, awe, reverence.
יִרְאָה
This noun shares the root and shows the range of the word translated fear.
mora: Dread, awe.
מוֹרָא
This related word shows that the root can describe an inward response of awe or dread.
THE PATTERN
Scripture repeatedly exposes devotion whose mouth or ritual approaches God while its inward allegiance remains elsewhere.
And Samuel said, Does the LORD delight in rising offerings and slaughtered offerings as much as in hearing and responding to the voice of the LORD? Behold, hearing and responding is better than a slaughtered offering; to prick the ear is better than the fat of rams.Yet they coaxed him with their mouth, and with their tongue ran dry toward him.But in emptiness they stand in awe of me, teaching human commands as lessons.THE THREAD
But in emptiness they stand in awe of me, teaching human commands as lessons.This follows Jesus’ quotation of Isaiah’s image of mouths that honor God while hearts remain distant. It brings the last clause into focus: human commandments can shape a form of devotion that sounds directed toward God.
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