What Does Isaiah 23:18 Mean in the King James?
And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
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
What is set apart to the LORD flows into food enough and lasting covering for people, rather than being stored away.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now through the destination of wealth: what commerce earns and labor is paid is set apart to the LORD, yet it is neither hoarded nor stored. It becomes food enough to satisfy and clothing that endures for those who dwell before the LORD. Here, devotion takes material form as provision.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that what is sacred must be locked away from ordinary need. Here, what is set apart becomes food and covering for people.
THE ROOT
קֹדֶשׁ
qōdeš set-apartness
GROWS FROM
קדשׁ
To set apart, consecrate, or mark as belonging to the sacred.
“holiness” in this verse is qōdeš set-apartness. The verse calls the merchandise itself set apart to the LORD, then says it is not stored away. Its sacredness appears in where it goes: toward the sustenance of people who dwell before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
qādōš: Set apart, sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
The same root describes what belongs to the LORD; here that status reaches the proceeds of trade.
miqdāš: A set-apart place, a sanctuary.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary and the merchandise share the language of being set apart, bringing sacredness into the material world of food and clothing.
סַחְרָהּ
saḥrāh her merchandise
GROWS FROM
סחר
To trade or carry on commerce; the word family describes goods and those who trade them.
“merchandise” in this verse is saḥrāh her merchandise. The verse takes the proceeds of exchange and gives them a destination beyond accumulation. Trade’s yield becomes provision for those dwelling before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
sōḥēr: A merchant or trader.
סוֹחֵר
The merchant and the merchandise belong to the same trade family; the verse traces the goods from commerce to the people they sustain.
səḥōrāh: Merchandise or trade goods.
סְחֹרָה
This related form makes the commercial sense explicit and highlights that the goods’ final use is food and clothing, not storage.
לְשָׂבְעָה
ləśovʿāh to satiety
GROWS FROM
שבע
To be full or satisfied.
“sufficiently” in this verse is ləśovʿāh to satiety. The word points to satiety: enough food for hunger to be met. The verse measures provision by a satisfied body, not by an ever-growing store.
ALSO GROWS
śāvēaʿ: Full or satisfied.
שָׂבֵעַ
This form names the condition the provision reaches: a person has eaten enough.
śōvaʿ: Fullness or satisfaction from food.
שֹׂבַע
This noun makes the verse’s measure concrete: the goods are for eating until there is enough.
THE PATTERN
What is set apart to God becomes provision that meets people’s bodily needs.
And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.THE THREAD
And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.Isaiah’s “sufficiently” and Deuteronomy’s “be satisfied” share the Hebrew root שבע (ś-b-ʿ), fullness or satiety. In both verses, provision reaches its measure when people have enough to eat.
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