What Does Isaiah 3:17 Mean in the King James?
Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
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 word translated “discover” shares a root with “pour out,” so this judgment exposes what was hidden by emptying away its concealment.
THE MEANING
The judgment here is bodily and public: a scab strikes the crown of the daughters of Zion, and their private parts are uncovered. It reaches from the visible head to what is kept intimate, leaving no protected surface or hidden place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that what is visible can be controlled while what is private stays protected from judgment.
THE ROOT
יְעָרֶה
yəʿāreh
GROWS FROM
עָרָה
To uncover or lay bare; also to pour out or empty.
“discover” in this verse is yəʿāreh. The root holds uncovering and outpouring together. Here, disclosure is not merely seeing what is hidden: what was covered is laid bare, and its concealment is emptied away.
ALSO GROWS
uncover: To expose or lay bare.
הֶעֱרָה
This is the sense active in Isaiah 3:17: what is kept private is brought into exposure.
pour out: To empty out or pour out.
הֶעֱרָה
In Isaiah 53:12, the same root describes a soul poured out unto death, showing that the word can carry the force of emptying as well as exposure.
THE PATTERN
Judgment removes concealment: what is hidden or covered can be made fully visible.
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.THE THREAD
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.Isaiah 3:17 uses עָרָה (ʿārāh), “uncover,” while Isaiah 53:12 uses the same root for “poured out.” The shared root joins exposure and emptying, though the verses place them in sharply different scenes.
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