What Does Isaiah 42:10 Mean?
Sing to the LORD a new song, and his praise from the edge of the earth, you who go down to the sea and all that fills it, the coastlands and those who settle in them.
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
Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.THE KEY
The “new” song is renewal made audible, and its chorus reaches even the world’s farthest edges.
THE MEANING
Your present world, including what is distant or unfamiliar, is gathered into a song to the LORD: the sea, everything in it, the islands, and the people who live there. The root of “new” also carries the sense of renewal, so this praise rises as fresh expression, reaching beyond one shore or people.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that praise belongs only to one familiar people or place. Here, the sea, the islands, and their inhabitants are explicitly within its reach.
THE ROOT
חָדָשׁ
chadash
GROWS FROM
חדש
Be new; renew.
The root carries newness and renewal: the same consonants appear in the word for the new moon or month and in a verb meaning “renew.” So “new” can suggest praise rising as renewal, not merely something recently made.
ALSO GROWS
chodesh: New moon; month.
חֹדֶשׁ
The shared root connects newness with the recurring beginning named by the new moon or month.
chiddesh: Renew; restore.
חִדֵּשׁ
This verb makes the renewal within “new song” audible: the song can arise as what is made fresh again.
שִׁיר
shir
GROWS FROM
שיר
Sing; song.
Hebrew uses the same root for the song and the act of singing. The verse’s newness is voiced: renewal becomes something heard across the earth.
ALSO GROWS
lashir: To sing.
לָשִׁיר
The verb shares the song’s root, joining the expression to the act that carries it outward.
shirah: Song; singing.
שִׁירָה
This related form keeps song and singing within the same word family.
תְּהִלָּתוֹ
tehillato
GROWS FROM
הלל
Praise; celebrate.
“His praise” comes from the same root heard in “Hallelujah,” praise to Yah. The verse joins that praise to singing, carrying its voiced celebration from the earth’s edges.
ALSO GROWS
tehillah: Praise.
תְּהִלָּה
This noun shares the root of “his praise” in the verse.
hallelu-yah: Praise Yah.
הַלְלוּיָהּ
The familiar call to praise Yah comes from the same root, linking this verse’s praise to a broader Hebrew expression.
THE PATTERN
A renewed song of praise widens until the whole inhabited world is included.
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to untie its seals, for you were slaughtered and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.THE THREAD
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.Psalm 96:1 repeats the Hebrew phrase “new song,” shir chadash, and widens the invitation to “all the earth.” Isaiah’s sea and islands are the far reaches of that same world-wide chorus.
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