What Does Isaiah 41:20 Mean in the King James?
That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
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
Hebrew makes knowing echo the hand: the word for know shares its opening consonants with the word for hand, so seeing the change culminates in recognizing its maker.
THE MEANING
What appears before you moves beyond sight into recognition: you know it, set it before yourself, and understand it with others. The verse names the source as the LORD’s hand and the maker as the Set-Apart One of Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yisra’el, traditionally linked to “one who strives with God”).
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a visible transformation can be source-less is undone: the verse names it as the work of the LORD’s hand and the act of the Holy One.
THE ROOT
וְיֵדְעוּ
veyedʿu
GROWS FROM
ידע
y-d-ʿ
To know, recognize, or perceive through encounter.
The verb is yada (יָדַע, know through encounter), so this is recognition that comes through what is seen. Its first two consonants echo yad (יָד, hand) in the next clause; the sound links coming to know with recognizing the hand behind what happened.
ALSO GROWS
daʿat: Knowledge, knowing, or recognition.
דַּעַת
This noun carries the same root from encounter into what is known.
yodēaʿ: One who knows.
יֹדֵעַ
The participle describes a person as one who recognizes, echoing the verse’s movement from seeing into knowing.
וְיָשִׂימוּ
veyasimu
GROWS FROM
שים
s-y-m
To put, place, or set.
English consider sounds like an abstract mental act, while the Hebrew verb comes from sim, put or set. What they see is set before them, then understood together: attention is where recognition takes hold.
ALSO GROWS
sam: He placed or set.
שָׂם
This form preserves the concrete action inside the verse’s word for considering.
sim lev: Set the heart; attend.
שִׂים לֵב
The familiar expression makes attention a heart set toward what is seen.
קָדוֹשׁ
qadosh
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
To set apart or consecrate.
“Holy One” in this verse is qadosh. The title names the maker as the One set apart. Beside the declaration that this One created what is visible, set-apartness names the source of the change.
ALSO GROWS
qodesh: Set-apartness or sacredness.
קֹדֶשׁ
This noun shows the quality carried by the title Holy One.
miqdash: Sanctuary, a place set apart.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The related sanctuary word makes set-apartness a place distinguished for a purpose.
THE PATTERN
What becomes visible in the world can carry recognition toward the one whose work it is.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.THE THREAD
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.Both verses use יָדַע (yada, know through encounter). Isaiah places knowing after sight of the work; the psalm pairs it with הַרְפּוּ (harpu, release or let the hands drop), showing recognition as grip loosens.
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