What Does Isaiah 58:14 Mean?
Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
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
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.THE KEY
The LORD carries you onto the heights and feeds you from an inheritance, so ascent and sustenance arrive as gifts.
THE MEANING
The LORD is the source of your delight; he carries you onto the high places of the earth and nourishes you with Jacob’s inheritance. The promise reaches you as both elevation and food, anchored in the LORD’s spoken word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you must make your own ascent and produce your own portion is undone here: the LORD carries you and feeds you.
THE ROOT
וְהִרְכַּבְתִּיךָ
wə-hirkabtîḵā
GROWS FROM
רכב
To ride or mount; in this causative form, to make someone ride.
“make you ride” in this verse is wə-hirkabtîḵā. The verb makes the LORD the one who gets you onto the heights. Ascent appears as being carried forward, rather than a height you reach by your own power.
ALSO GROWS
rōḵēv: Rider
רֹכֵב
The same root names the one who rides, giving the verse’s ascent a concrete sense of movement.
merkāvāh: Chariot or vehicle
מֶרְכָּבָה
This branch names what carries a rider, echoing the verse’s image of being borne toward the heights.
וְהַאֲכַלְתִּיךָ
wə-haʾăḵaltîḵā
GROWS FROM
אכל
To eat or consume; in this causative form, to feed or cause to eat.
“feed” in this verse is wə-haʾăḵaltîḵā. The verse describes Jacob’s inheritance as what feeds you, making the inherited portion nourishment rather than merely something you possess. The promise is pictured as provision taken into life.
ALSO GROWS
ʾōḵel: Food
אֹכֶל
This noun from the same root makes the verse’s feeding image concrete.
maʾăḵāl: Food or something eaten
מַאֲכָל
The word reinforces that the inheritance is given as sustenance.
תִּתְעַנַּג
titʿannag
GROWS FROM
ענג
To delight in or take pleasure in; the root also carries a sense of luxuriating.
“delight yourself” in this verse is titʿannag. The noun for delight in the preceding verse shares this root with the verb here: Sabbath is called a delight, and then delight is found in the LORD. That repeated root links the day’s pleasure with the person’s relationship to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
ʿōneg: Delight or pleasure
עֹנֶג
This noun appears in Isaiah 58:13, where the Sabbath is called a delight.
wə-hitʿannag: And delight yourself
וְהִתְעַנַּג
Psalm 37:4 uses this same root in the invitation to delight in the LORD.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s provision is pictured as both a path onto high ground and food for the journey.
He sets him riding on the heights of the earth, and he eats the sprouting of the fields; he makes him suckle honey from the crag, and oil from the flint rock.He lays me down in green pastures; he leads me beside resting waters.Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me shall never hunger, and the one who leans their full weight into me shall never thirst.THE THREAD
Soften yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the asking of your heart.Both verses use the same Hebrew root for delighting in the LORD. Isaiah unfolds that delight as being carried onto the heights and fed from an inheritance; Psalm 37:4 pairs it with the heart’s desires being given.
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