What Does Isaiah 32:9 Mean in the King James?
Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
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 “careless” shares the root of “trust”: felt security can dull the ear that needs to hear.
THE MEANING
Ease can leave the reader unready to hear what is being said. The verse calls the secure to rise and attend to the voice reaching them now. Its paired commands make listening the opening through which a sense of safety can be examined.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Feeling at ease does not prove that nothing needs attention or that there is no reason to listen.
THE ROOT
בֹּטְחוֹת
boṭḥot
GROWS FROM
בטח
b-ṭ-ḥ
To trust, rely on, or feel secure.
The daughters are described with a word from the root of trust and security, so “careless” carries a sense of being confident or untroubled. The verse places that felt security beside a command to rise and listen: ease can soften attention, though the same root can also describe trust placed elsewhere.
ALSO GROWS
bāṭaḥ: To trust or rely confidently.
בָּטַח
This is the verb used for trust in Psalm 56:3, showing that the root can describe confidence rather than mere inattention.
mibṭāḥ: Confidence, security, or refuge.
מִבְטָח
This noun makes explicit the sense of security inside the word translated “careless”; the verse addresses people who feel settled and safe.
שְׁמַעְנָה
shemaʿnah
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear or listen, with response included when the context calls for it.
“hear” in this verse is shemaʿnah. The command is more than sound reaching the ear; it calls for the voice to be received. Set beside “give ear,” it presses the reader toward attentive hearing rather than remaining passively at ease.
ALSO GROWS
shāmaʿ: To hear or listen; to hear and respond when response is implied.
שָׁמַע
This verb is the seed of the command and keeps listening connected to what follows from hearing.
shemuʿah: A report, announcement, or thing heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This noun shows that the root can name what arrives by hearing, highlighting that the verse directs attention toward a voice and its message.
THE PATTERN
A sense of ease can conceal vulnerability when it is mistaken for proof that no warning needs attention.
Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.THE THREAD
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.“Trust” here comes from the same Hebrew root as “careless” in Isaiah. The shared root can describe confidence that dulls attention or trust held in the presence of fear; the word’s direction matters.
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