What Does Isaiah 18:3 Mean in the King James?
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
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 signal is made unmistakable by meeting the eye on the mountains and the ear through the trumpet.
THE MEANING
You are addressed as one of the earth’s dwellers: the sign rises on the mountains, and the trumpet sounds. The call reaches through both sight and hearing, placing it in the open rather than in private perception.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that the signal is meant only for insiders or can remain unseen and unheard: it addresses all the world’s inhabitants and makes the sign visible and audible.
THE ROOT
נֵס
nēs
GROWS FROM
נסס
n-s-s
To raise or display as a standard or signal.
The Hebrew word translated “ensign” can mean a banner or signal, and its word family includes a verb for displaying a banner. The mountain placement makes the sign deliberately visible.
ALSO GROWS
nēs: Banner, standard, signal.
נֵס
This is the word for the ensign raised where the world can see it.
lehitnōsēs: To be displayed or raised as a banner.
לְהִתְנֹסֵס
This related form underscores that the signal is meant to be openly displayed.
תִּשְׁמָעוּ
tishmeʿû
GROWS FROM
שמע
š-m-ʿ
To hear, listen, or attend.
“hear” in this verse is tishmeʿû. This root can name both hearing and a report, something heard and passed on. The trumpet makes the call audible alongside the ensign’s visible signal.
ALSO GROWS
šāmaʿ: Hear, listen.
שָׁמַע
The verse calls its hearers to attend to the trumpet’s sound.
šĕmûʿāh: Report, news, or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The root links the act of hearing with what is carried as an audible report.
THE PATTERN
A signal made visible or audible can reach people at a distance and draw their attention.
Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.THE THREAD
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.This verse uses the same Hebrew word נֵס (nēs), meaning a raised banner or signal. Isaiah 18:3 calls the whole world to see the ensign; here, that same signal stands among the nations as the scattered are gathered.
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