What Does Isaiah 62:11 Mean?
Behold, the LORD has caused it to be heard to the end of the earth, saying to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your deliverance comes; behold, his wages are with him, and his work before 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
Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.THE KEY
Deliverance is not an abstract rescue: it comes toward you with the work and recompense of the one who brings it already in view.
THE MEANING
The announcement reaches the edge of your world: your deliverance is coming; the one who brings it carries recompense, and his work is before him. Each “behold” turns your attention to another part of the arrival.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a promise of deliverance is empty until it arrives: the coming one carries recompense and has work set before him.
THE ROOT
יִשְׁעֵךְ
yishʿekh
GROWS FROM
ישע
y-sh-ʿ
Deliver, rescue, bring into safety.
“your deliverance comes” in this verse is yishʿekh. The Hebrew word is “your deliverance,” from the root יָשַׁע (yashaʿ), to deliver. It names movement out of constriction toward spaciousness: the deliverance is not merely promised but is coming toward you.
ALSO GROWS
yashaʿ: Deliver, rescue.
יָשַׁע
The verb shares the root and makes the movement inside “your salvation” visible.
yeshuʿah: Deliverance.
יְשׁוּעָה
This noun from the same root names the rescue that the verse says is coming.
הִשְׁמִיעַ
hishmîaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed.
“has caused it to be heard” in this verse is hishmîaʿ. The verb literally carries the sense of causing something to be heard. The announcement reaches the earth’s edge, then the hearers are told to speak it onward to Zion: the message is made heard and passed on.
ALSO GROWS
shāmaʿ: Hear, listen.
שָׁמַע
This is the root verb behind the proclamation: what is proclaimed is what the world is made to hear.
shemaʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The same root opens hearing toward response, fitting the movement from the LORD’s announcement to “Say ye.”
THE PATTERN
Deliverance is announced as a coming reality whose work and recompense accompany it.
Look, Lord LORD comes with a strong hand, and his arm rules for him. Look, his wages are with him, and his work goes before him.The LORD has bared his set-apart arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the edges of the earth shall see the deliverance of our God.Look, I come swiftly, and my wages are with me, to give back to each one as his work will be.THE THREAD
The LORD makes his deliverance known. He uncovers his alignment before the eyes of the nations.Both verses use the Hebrew root ישע (y-sh-ʿ): “your deliverance” here and “his salvation” in the psalm. Isaiah says this deliverance is coming; the psalm says the LORD has made it known openly among the nations.
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