What Does Isaiah 6:1 Mean?
In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord settled upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.
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
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.THE KEY
The king named “Yah is strength” dies, yet the Lord remains seated, with even the hem of his robe filling the temple.
THE MEANING
When a visible source of strength falls away, the Lord remains seated; authority is not left vacant. Even the hem of the Lord’s robe fills the temple, so the One high above is present throughout the sacred space.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A visible ruler is the ultimate source of strength; once that ruler is gone, the throne is empty and the sacred is remote.
THE ROOT
עֻזִּיָּהוּ
ʿUzzîyāhû
GROWS FROM
עזז
ʿzz
Be strong; strength.
Uzziah’s name means “Yah is strength.” The verse places that name beside the king’s death, then shows the Lord still seated: strength is not confined to its human bearer.
ALSO GROWS
ʿōz: Strength, might.
עֹז
This is the strength element in Uzziah’s name, making the name itself point beyond the king.
ʿāzûz: Mighty, strong.
עָזוּז
This branch names strength as a quality, while the verse’s enduring seat belongs to the Lord.
נִשָּׂא
niśśāʾ
GROWS FROM
נשא
nśʾ
Lift, carry, bear.
“high and lifted up” in this verse is niśśāʾ. English “lifted up” can suggest only a fixed position, but נשא also means to carry or bear. The same root links elevation with what is borne, so the image carries more than altitude.
ALSO GROWS
nāśāʾ: Lift, carry, bear.
נָשָׂא
The root’s range includes both raising and carrying, adding a bearing sense to the Lord’s elevation.
maśśāʾ: Load, burden; oracle.
מַשָּׂא
A burden is something carried, keeping the root’s carrying sense beside the image of being lifted.
nāśîʾ: Chief, prince.
נָשִׂיא
This title is associated with one raised to leadership, showing how the root’s lifting sense can extend to rank.
רָם
rām
GROWS FROM
רום
rûm
Rise; be high or exalted.
“high and lifted up” in this verse is rām. רָם names height or exaltedness, while the neighboring נִשָּׂא comes from a different root meaning lift or carry. Their pairing gives the vision two dimensions where English can sound like simple repetition.
ALSO GROWS
mārôm: Height, high place.
מָרוֹם
This branch makes the spatial sense of the Lord’s height explicit.
tərûmāh: Contribution or offering set apart.
תְּרוּמָה
The word carries the root’s sense of raising or lifting, echoing the verse’s elevation language.
THE PATTERN
The Lord’s rule is shown as both enthroned and expansive: the One seated above is present through the sacred place.
The LORD reigns, he is clothed in height; the LORD is clothed in strength, and he girds himself with it. The inhabited world is also set firm, and it will not totter.So that the priests could not stand to serve because of the cloud, for the weight of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.Immediately I am in the breath, and behold, a throne is set in heaven, and one sits upon the throne.THE THREAD
Behold, my servant shall see clearly. He shall rise, be lifted, and be raised very high.Isaiah 52:13 pairs the same roots, רום (rûm, to be high) and נשא (nāśāʾ, to lift), that describe the Lord’s elevation here. The shared language makes the servant’s exaltation echo this throne vision.
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