What Does Isaiah 18:1 Mean in the King James?
Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
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 Hebrew word behind “shadowing” may carry the sound of ringing or whirring, so this land’s wings can be heard as well as seen.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks a cry of woe over a land beyond the rivers of Cush, marked by the image, or sound, of wings. Covering and unease sit together in the line: the wings spread across the land, yet their sound may arrive like a warning. The image remains unresolved.
THE ROOT
צִלְצַל
tsiltsal
GROWS FROM
צלל
to ring, tinkle, or rattle
“shadowing” in this verse is tsiltsal. The KJV preserves the image of wings casting shade, while צִלְצַל (tsiltsal, a ringing or whirring sound) lets the phrase be heard as well as pictured. Its sound-family can evoke both a cymbal and a locust, holding a restless wing-noise alongside the image of cover.
ALSO GROWS
tsiltsal: cymbal, a ringing instrument
צִלְצַל
The shared sound-word gives “shadowing with wings” a possible ringing or whirring dimension.
tsiltsal: locust
צִלְצַל
This related usage evokes a buzzing swarm, allowing the wings in the phrase to register as sound as well as shape.
כְּנָפָיִם
kenafayim
GROWS FROM
כנף
wing; an edge or extremity
“wings” in this verse is kenafayim. כָּנָף (kanaf, wing) also names the edge or corner of a garment. The wing carries both spread and boundary: it can cover, and it can mark the far reach of what spreads.
ALSO GROWS
kanaf: wing
כָּנָף
This is the verse’s direct image of something spread over the land.
kenaf: edge or corner of a garment
כְּנַף
The same word extends the wing-image to an edge, giving the phrase a sense of reach as well as cover.
THE PATTERN
Across scripture, a wing’s spread can mark the place where the exposed finds cover.
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!THE THREAD
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.Isaiah’s כָּנָף (kanaf, wing) meets the same Hebrew word in Psalm 91, where wings become a place of cover and trust. That link opens a sheltering resonance in Isaiah’s image while leaving its possible wing-sound intact.
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