What Does Isaiah 42:13 Mean?
The LORD goes out like a mighty man. He stirs up his zeal like a man of war. He shouts, yes, he roars. He grows strong over his enemies.
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
The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.THE KEY
The same Hebrew root names the LORD’s might and his prevailing: here, strength is victory in motion.
THE MEANING
When you meet opposition, this verse presents the LORD as one who advances with force, awakens fierce zeal, cries out, and prevails. Its victory is forceful; the verse does not soften the clash or make the opposition unreal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the LORD’s power is only gentle or remote; here that power is loud, confrontational, and victorious.
THE ROOT
גִּבּוֹר
gibbor yitgabber
GROWS FROM
גבר
g-b-r
To be strong, become mighty, or prevail.
“grows strong over” in this verse is gibbor yitgabber. Isaiah uses the same root for the warrior’s might and his prevailing. Hebrew links the LORD’s strength with its active expression: overcoming opposition.
ALSO GROWS
gibbor: Mighty one, warrior
גִּבּוֹר
This is the word describing the LORD as a mighty man in the verse.
gābar: Be strong, prevail
גָּבַר
This verbal form shares the root behind “he shall prevail,” joining might to victory.
gever: Man, strong man
גֶּבֶר
This branch echoes the verse’s “man of war” and shows the root’s connection to a person embodying strength.
קִנְאָה
qin’ah
GROWS FROM
קנא
q-n-ʾ
To be zealous or jealous; to act with ardent concern.
The word translated “jealousy” also carries the sense of zeal. In this verse it is awakened as the LORD advances, so the emotion is bound to decisive action rather than detached feeling.
ALSO GROWS
qannā’: Jealous, zealous
קַנָּא
This adjective describes the intensity carried by the related noun in Isaiah.
qinnē’: Act zealously; be jealous for
קִנֵּא
This verb shows the root as active commitment, fitting the LORD’s forceful advance.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s victory over opposition appears as active, forceful confrontation.
The LORD is a man of battle; the LORD is his name.Who is this King of weight? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.And I see heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one who sits on it is called Steady and True, and in alignment he judges and wages war.THE THREAD
Who is this King of weight? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.Psalm 24 uses gibbor, “mighty,” from the same גבר root Isaiah uses for the mighty warrior and “prevail.” The shared root joins the LORD’s identity as mighty with the action of overcoming.
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