What Does Isaiah 1:26 Mean in the King James?
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The city receives its name of faithfulness as its judgment and counsel return to order, its identity grows from what guides it.
THE MEANING
Right judgment and sound counsel are being restored to their original place in you. As discernment and guidance return, your life bears the name of alignment and steadiness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that failed judgment means a city can never again be faithful is undone: the verse holds restoration open.
THE ROOT
וְאָשִׁיבָה
ve'ashivah
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
to turn back, return
“restore” in this verse is ve'ashivah. The verb for restoration grows from the seed of returning: repair is a return to sound order. The city’s wholeness is uncovered as its judges and counselors return to their first place.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: to turn or return
שׁוּב
This is the root itself, showing that restoration carries the sense of a return.
teshuvah: turning, return
תְּשׁוּבָה
This branch makes the turning within restoration visible: what is restored comes back toward its proper place.
צֶדֶק
tsedeq
GROWS FROM
צדק
alignment, right order
The city’s name carries the sense of alignment with what is right. That name follows the restoration of judgment and counsel, so righteousness here describes a shared order taking shape, not merely a private virtue.
ALSO GROWS
tsaddiq: one who is upright or aligned
צַדִּיק
The branch describes a person whose life is in line with what is right, echoing the city’s restored order.
tsedaqah: justice, righteousness
צְדָקָה
This branch connects alignment with justice expressed in the life of a community.
נֶאֱמָנָה
ne'emanah
GROWS FROM
אמן
firm, steady, reliable
The word translated “faithful” grows from firmness: what is steady enough to be relied on. The city’s character is therefore not only upright but dependable, a place whose restored order can be leaned on.
ALSO GROWS
emunah: trust, steadiness
אֱמוּנָה
This branch shows trust as something grounded in what holds firm, illuminating the city’s reliability.
amen: Amen; an affirmation of what is firm
אָמֵן
This familiar affirmation belongs to the same root family, echoing the firmness named in the city’s identity.
THE PATTERN
A community’s character becomes visible through the quality of its judgment and counsel.
Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.THE THREAD
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?Both verses turn on שׁוּב (shuv, “return”): restoration is a movement back toward what has gone out of order. Malachi makes that return explicit, while Isaiah shows it taking shape in restored judgment and counsel.
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