What Does Isaiah 16:12 Mean in the King James?
And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.
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
A sacred place can receive an exhausted plea without making the petitioner prevail.
THE MEANING
Exhaustion can bring you to a sanctuary and into prayer while the outcome you seek remains beyond your power. The verse keeps both truths together: Moab prays, and Moab does not prevail. Sacred space does not make success inevitable.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that praying in a sacred place guarantees the outcome I seek.
THE ROOT
נִלְאָה
nil'ah
GROWS FROM
לאה
laʾah
To grow weary or become exhausted; in another form, to weary someone.
“weary” in this verse is nil'ah. The same root describes being worn down and wearing another down. Here, Moab’s weariness is more than a passing feeling: it is an exhaustion that has not become power to prevail.
ALSO GROWS
nil'eti: I have grown weary.
נִלְאֵיתִי
This form appears in Isaiah 1:14, where the LORD says he is weary of bearing the appointed feasts, linking Moab’s exhaustion at a sanctuary with weariness over sacred observance.
hal'ot: To wear someone down.
הַלְאוֹת
This form appears in Isaiah 7:13, showing that the same root can name exhaustion imposed on another, not only the one who feels exhausted.
לְמִקְדָּשׁוֹ
lemiqdasho
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
To set apart or make distinct for sacred use.
The word for sanctuary grows from the root meaning set apart. The verse holds that designation alongside a failed appeal: being set apart does not itself ensure that the petitioner prevails.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart.
קָדוֹשׁ
The adjective shares the sanctuary’s root and names its defining quality.
hiqdish: To set something apart for sacred use.
הִקְדִּישׁ
This verb shows the root as an act of designation; the sanctuary is a set-apart place, yet Moab still does not prevail.
לְהִתְפַּלֵּל
lehitpallel
GROWS FROM
פלל
p-l-l
The word family includes prayer and forms associated with judging or arbitration.
“pray” in this verse is lehitpallel. A related form names arbiters or judges, giving the prayer verb a shade of an appeal brought before authority. The final clause keeps that appeal distinct from the power to succeed.
ALSO GROWS
tefillah: Prayer.
תְּפִלָּה
This noun grows from the same root as the verb used for Moab’s prayer.
pelilim: Arbiters or judges.
פְּלִילִים
This related form gives the prayer root a shade of bringing a plea before one who decides, while the verse says the plea does not prevail.
THE PATTERN
Calling on sacred authority does not guarantee the outcome sought.
And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.THE THREAD
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.The Hebrew behind “weary” in both places comes from לאה (laʾah, to grow weary). Here Moab is exhausted while praying at a sanctuary; there the LORD says he is weary of bearing the feasts, linking the same root to the strain of sacred observance.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us