What Does Isaiah 43:22 Mean?
But you have not called upon me, Jacob; you have worn yourself out with me, Israel.
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
But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.THE KEY
The same chapter says God called Jacob by name before Jacob grew too weary to call God.
THE MEANING
There is no call toward God here, and the stated cause is weariness with God. Yet God still addresses the weary one as Jacob and Israel, so the silence exists inside an ongoing encounter.
THE ROOT
קָרָאתָ
qārāʾtā
GROWS FROM
קרא
Q-R-A
To call out, proclaim, or name.
“called upon” in this verse is qārāʾtā. The verb for Jacob’s not calling God is the same verb used in Isaiah 43:1 when God says, “I have called thee by thy name.” One Hebrew root holds both directions of address: God calls Jacob, and Jacob does not call God.
ALSO GROWS
qara: To call aloud or identify by name.
קָרָא
It links this missing call to God’s earlier act of calling Jacob personally.
miqra: A gathering called together, or a public reading.
מִקְרָא
This branch shows how calling can summon people into a shared encounter.
יָגַעְתָּ
yāgaʿtā
GROWS FROM
יגע
Y-G-ʿ
To labor or toil, and to become weary through exertion.
“worn yourself out” in this verse is yāgaʿtā. The word translated “weary” carries the sense of toil and exhaustion. The verse presents the lack of calling alongside a relationship that has become tiring, not merely as an empty space where words should be.
ALSO GROWS
yāgēaʿ: Worn down through exertion.
יָגֵעַ
It makes the weariness in the verse feel like depletion, not just a passing mood.
yegiaʿ: Work or effort expended.
יְגִיעַ
It reveals the labor inside the word for weariness: the relationship is experienced as something exhausting.
THE PATTERN
God’s address reaches people even when they are not calling or seeking.
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and who shaped you, O Israel. Do not fear, for I have bought you back; I have called you by your name; you are mine.But Isaiah dares boldly and says, I was found among those who did not seek me; I became visible to those who did not ask for me.THE THREAD
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and who shaped you, O Israel. Do not fear, for I have bought you back; I have called you by your name; you are mine.The verb קרא (qara, “call”) appears in both verses: God says, “I have called thee by thy name,” then names Jacob’s failure to call upon him. The shared root makes the silence a response within a relationship God has already initiated.
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