What Does Isaiah 33:10 Mean?
Now I will rise, says the LORD. Now I will be lifted high. Now I will lift myself up.
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
Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.THE KEY
The three “nows” unfold as a rising sequence: the LORD stands, takes height, and is lifted up.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s repeated “now” meets the reader’s present: he rises and is exalted. Three verbs give that presence movement, from standing up, through height, into lifting.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the present moment proves the LORD will remain inactive: the verse repeats “now” three times.
THE ROOT
אָקוּם
ʾāqūm
GROWS FROM
קום
Rise or stand; in causative forms, establish or make stand.
The root carries more than upward motion: to rise can mean to take a stand, and its causative forms can establish something in place. The verse’s opening rise is the first movement in a declaration that continues through height and lifting.
ALSO GROWS
maqom: Place; position or standing place.
מָקוֹם
The word for place shares this root, linking rising with taking a position.
heqim: Raise up; establish.
הֵקִים
This causative form shows how the root can move from standing to making something stand.
אֵרוֹמָם
ʾērōmēm
GROWS FROM
רום
Be high, rise, or raise high; exalt.
“lifted high” in this verse is ʾērōmēm. This root holds height as both a condition and an action: what is high can also be raised. Here it intensifies the first rise, carrying the declaration from standing to exaltation.
ALSO GROWS
ram: High; exalted.
רָם
This adjective makes the root’s sense of height visible.
terumah: A raised portion; contribution or offering.
תְּרוּמָה
The raised portion shows how the root can describe something lifted out and set apart.
אִנָּשֵׂא
ʾinnāśēʾ
GROWS FROM
נשא
Lift, carry, or bear.
“lift up myself” in this verse is ʾinnāśēʾ. This root adds the sense of carrying to the rising sequence: elevation is also something borne upward. Its branches connect being lifted with both leadership and the weight one carries.
ALSO GROWS
nasi: Prince or leader; one lifted up.
נָשִׂיא
The word for a leader connects elevation with being raised to a position.
massa: Burden or load; something carried.
מַשָּׂא
The word for a burden preserves the root’s other shade: lifting can also mean bearing weight.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s rising marks a present turning in which divine height becomes visible and those held low can be lifted.
Rise, shine, for your light has come, and the weight of the LORD has risen upon you.You rise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor her; the appointed time has come.He has pulled the mighty down from their seats, and lifted up the low.THE THREAD
For the ravaging of the poor, for the groaning of the needy, now I rise, says the LORD; I set him in deliverance from the one who puffs at him.The threefold “now” echoes this declaration: “now will I arise.” Both verses use קום (qum, rise or stand), so rising carries the force of taking a stand amid oppression and need.
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