What Does Isaiah 11:2 Mean in the King James?
And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
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 fourfold *ruach* holds wisdom, discernment, counsel, strength, knowledge, and awe together as one breath from the LORD.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s breath rests on the one the verse names, appearing as wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and awe. These capacities belong together under one source: clear perception, sound counsel, strength, and reverence are held within a unified presence. That unity remains legible now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the idea that wisdom, strength, and reverence come from unrelated sources: it names them as expressions of the same breath from the LORD.
THE ROOT
רוּחַ
ruach
GROWS FROM
רוח
r-w-ḥ
Blowing or breathing; moving air and the animating breath it carries.
The repeated Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach, breath) holds the connected senses of wind, breath, and spirit that English separates. Each time it introduces a new pair of qualities, the verse presents them as expressions of the same living presence.
ALSO GROWS
ruach: Wind or moving air.
רוּחַ
This sense shows the LORD’s spirit as active and moving, not an abstract quality.
ruach: Breath.
רוּחַ
This sense keeps the verse’s source of wisdom and strength close to living breath.
ruach: Spirit or animating presence.
רוּחַ
This is the KJV rendering here, joined to the other senses in the same Hebrew word.
בִּינָה
binah
GROWS FROM
בין
b-y-n
To distinguish or discern between.
The root connects understanding with perceiving distinctions and relations, rather than merely holding information. Within the verse’s list, this discernment belongs to the same ruach as counsel and strength.
ALSO GROWS
bein: Between or among.
בֵּין
This word makes the root’s sense of perceiving distinctions visible.
mevin: One who understands or discerns.
מֵבִין
This form shows understanding as an act of discerning, not just a store of knowledge.
יִרְאַת
yir'at
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
Fear, awe, or reverence.
“fear” in this verse is yir'at. Here יִרְאַת יְהוָה (yir’at YHWH, awe of the LORD) carries reverence rather than mere alarm. Its place at the end frames the other capacities in recognition of the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
yare: To fear or revere.
יָרֵא
When directed toward God, this root carries the sense of awe.
mora: Awe or dread.
מוֹרָא
This noun shows the root’s range from alarm to reverence, clarified here by its object: the LORD.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s breath is one source whose presence appears through distinct capacities and outward work.
But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;THE THREAD
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.This verse repeats רוּחַ (ruach, breath), the same Hebrew word that introduces each cluster of qualities here. In Isaiah 42, the resting breath becomes visible in the servant’s work, carrying the presence named here outward into judgment for the nations.
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