What Does Isaiah 7:5 Mean?
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have planned evil against you, saying,
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
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,THE KEY
The threat is already coordinated: the Hebrew says they have counseled against you, so the danger begins as a shared plan before it appears as action.
THE MEANING
When hostility gathers around you, the verse names its first form: people align their counsel against you and begin to give the plan words. It calls that intent evil plainly, while leaving the outcome unstated.
THE ROOT
יָעַץ
yāʿaṣ
GROWS FROM
י־ע־ץ
y-ʿ-ṣ
To advise, deliberate, or form a plan.
“planned evil” in this verse is yāʿaṣ. The verb shares its root with עֵצָה (ʿēṣāh), the counsel itself, and יוֹעֵץ (yōʿēṣ), a counselor. Hebrew holds together the people advising, the act of planning, and the plan they shape: the threat is a coordinated intention already being voiced.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēṣāh: Counsel, advice, or plan.
עֵצָה
This noun names the formed plan contained in the verb: the verse describes deliberate intent, not merely vague hostility.
yōʿēṣ: Counselor or adviser.
יוֹעֵץ
This branch names the person who gives counsel, making visible the people aligned in shaping the plan.
THE PATTERN
A hostile plan can gather and speak, but its declaration does not by itself decide what comes to pass.
The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers sit down together against the LORD and against his anointed one, saying,Take counsel together, and it shall be broken; speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us.to do whatever your hand and your counsel had marked out beforehand to be done.THE THREAD
Take counsel together, and it shall be broken; speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us.The same Hebrew root י־ע־ץ (y-ʿ-ṣ) names counsel in both verses. Isaiah 8:10 carries the thought further: counsel can be gathered and spoken, yet it does not necessarily become the outcome.
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