What Does Isaiah 57:19 Mean?
I create the fruit of the lips. Wholeness, wholeness to the one far off and to the one near, says the LORD, and I will heal him.
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
I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.THE KEY
Distance does not put you beyond wholeness: the LORD speaks it to the far and the near, then heals.
THE MEANING
The LORD is bringing words of wholeness toward you, whether you experience yourself as far away or near. That promise reaches beyond speech into healing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that distance puts you beyond the LORD’s peace or healing dissolves here: the far and the near receive the same peace, and healing follows.
THE ROOT
שָׁלוֹם
shalom
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or sound.
“Wholeness, wholeness” in this verse is shalom. שָׁלוֹם (shalom) grows from the root of completeness. Its repetition makes the declaration emphatic, while its reach to the far and near shows that distance does not divide those who receive this wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete, sound.
שָׁלֵם
This branch shows the fullness inside peace: more than quiet, it is a state of being made whole.
shillem: Repay, recompense, make good.
שִׁלֵּם
The related verb can describe settling what is due, suggesting a completeness in which what is lacking is addressed.
נִיב
niv
GROWS FROM
נוב
To sprout, produce, or bear fruit.
נִיב (niv) names produce from the lips, and its root נוב (nuv) also describes a mouth bringing forth wisdom and people continuing to bear fruit. Speech here is pictured as fruit brought forth by God’s creating action, not merely as words about a feeling.
ALSO GROWS
yānūv: It brings forth or produces; used of a mouth bringing forth wisdom.
יָנוּב
This branch makes the link between what the mouth speaks and what it produces explicit.
yinnūvūn: They will bear fruit.
יִנּוּבוּן
This form describes continuing fruitfulness, illuminating the image of words as life-bearing produce.
וּרְפָאתִיו
urəphā’tiv
GROWS FROM
רפא
To heal or make sound.
“Heal” in this verse is urəphā’tiv. The verse ends with the LORD’s direct action: the one addressed in peace is also the one the LORD heals. The root family includes both the healer and healing itself, so the promise holds the act and its restored condition together.
ALSO GROWS
rōfēʾ: Healer, physician.
רֹפֵא
This branch names the one who carries out the healing promised here.
marpēʾ: Healing, health, remedy.
מַרְפֵּא
This branch names the restored condition, showing that the promise extends beyond words into a healing result.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness arrives through a spoken word and reaches people across distance.
He sends his word and heals them, and slips them free from their pits.And he came and brought good news of wholeness to you who were far off, and wholeness to those near.THE THREAD
And he came and brought good news of wholeness to you who were far off, and wholeness to those near.The verse repeats Isaiah’s arrangement: peace comes to those far off and those near. Isaiah then names healing as the promise that follows this shared wholeness.
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