What Does Isaiah 51:5 Mean?
My alignment is near. My deliverance has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The coastlands will wait for me, and for my arm they will wait.
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
My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.THE KEY
Deliverance has already gone forth, and even the farthest shores are within its reach.
THE MEANING
God’s alignment is near you; deliverance is already moving outward. God’s arm reaches the peoples, and even distant shores wait for that strength and trust in it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that deliverance is still far away or reserved for those already near the center dissolves here: it is already going forth, and the distant shores are within its reach.
THE ROOT
יִשְׁעִי
yishʿi
GROWS FROM
ישע
ישע (y-sh-ʿ; yasha): to deliver, bring into safety.
English can make salvation sound like a distant destination, but the root carries the movement of deliverance. Here it has already gone forth, reaching beyond the near to the farthest shores.
ALSO GROWS
yasha: to deliver, bring out
יָשַׁע
This verbal form shows the movement contained in the verse’s “salvation”: deliverance goes forth.
yeshuah: deliverance
יְשׁוּעָה
This noun from the same root names the deliverance that Isaiah says is already on its way.
Yeshua: deliverance; the name Yeshua
יֵשׁוּעַ
The name carries the same root of deliverance, joining the verse’s action to a name that embodies its nature.
צִדְקִי
tsidqi
GROWS FROM
צדק
צדק (ts-d-q; tsedeq): rightness, justice, alignment.
The verse places alignment beside deliverance: one is near, the other already going forth. Together they describe wholeness arriving as a present reality, not merely a verdict deferred to some distant time.
ALSO GROWS
tsaddiq: one who is righteous or aligned
צַדִּיק
This branch carries the same root into a person described by alignment.
tsedaqah: righteousness, justice, alignment
צְדָקָה
This related form shows the root’s wider reach into the quality of what is right and aligned.
THE PATTERN
God’s deliverance is already moving outward, becoming visible among peoples far beyond the center.
Look, God is my deliverance. I will lean my full weight and not tremble, for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song, and he has become my deliverance.That your way may be perceived upon the earth, your deliverance among all the nations.For my eyes have perceived your deliverance,THE THREAD
Look, God is my deliverance. I will lean my full weight and not tremble, for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song, and he has become my deliverance.Isaiah 12:2 uses the same root, ישע (yasha), for salvation. Isaiah 51:5 shows this deliverance already going forth toward the peoples; chapter 12 names trust as its companion.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us