What Does Isaiah 26:10 Mean in the King James?

Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
Isaiah 26:10 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

Favor can be shown and upright ground can surround someone, yet neither forces alignment or opens their sight to the LORD’s majesty.

Favor can reach a person without forming them in alignment. Even on ground described as upright, they can act unjustly and remain unable to perceive the LORD’s majesty. The verse names refusal as both a way of acting and a way of seeing.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that receiving goodness or living among what is right automatically makes someone just or able to perceive God.

צֶדֶק

tsedeq

GROWS FROM

צדק

To be just or right; justice and alignment.

“righteousness” in this verse is tsedeq. The verse places ⁨צֶדֶק⁩ (tsedeq, alignment) beside someone who refuses to learn it. The following image of unjust action shows alignment as something expressed in how a person acts, not merely a quality of the surrounding land.

ALSO GROWS

tsaddiq: A just or aligned person.

צַדִּיק

It shows alignment as a quality embodied by a person.

tsedaqah: Justice or righteousness expressed in action.

צְדָקָה

It makes clear that the alignment the person will not learn has practical expression.

לָמַד

lamad

GROWS FROM

למד

To learn or be taught; in an intensive form, to teach or instruct.

“learn” in this verse is lamad. The verse’s refusal is a refusal to be taught into alignment. This root’s branches connect learning with instruction and formation, making the failure more than simply not knowing what is right.

ALSO GROWS

limmud: One who is taught or trained.

לִמּוּד

It shows learning as a process that forms the learner.

melammed: A teacher or instructor.

מְלַמֵּד

It reveals the teaching relationship implicit in learning righteousness.

יֻחַן

yuchan

GROWS FROM

חנן

To show favor or act graciously.

“favour be shewed” in this verse is yuchan. The verse allows favor to be shown to the wicked while they still refuse to learn alignment. The root’s branches carry the sense of favor and graciousness, but the verse does not treat receiving favor as proof that a person has changed.

ALSO GROWS

chen: Favor.

חֵן

It names the favor shown in the verse.

channun: Gracious.

חַנּוּן

It links the favor received to the gracious character expressed in giving it.

Being given goodness or truth does not guarantee that a person receives its forming force.

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Romans 2:4 · KJVGod’s goodness is meant to lead the reader to turning, yet the verse recognizes that goodness can be despised rather than received.
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Proverbs 1:24 · KJVThe offered hand is present, but the response is refusal and disregard.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3:19 · KJVLight is present, yet a person can choose against what it reveals.
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Isaiah 1:17 · KJV

Isaiah 1:17 uses the same root ⁨לָמַד⁩ (lamad, to learn or be taught) and makes learning concrete through just action. Beside Isaiah 26:10, it sharpens the refusal: alignment is a way of being taught into practice, not merely something present in the surroundings.

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Isaiah 26:10 KJV Meaning