What Does Isaiah 41:27 Mean in the King James?
The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
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
Jerusalem is given a herald whose very work, announcing the news, shares its root with the word for tidings.
THE MEANING
Zion hears, “Behold, behold them,” and Jerusalem receives a herald of good news. The announcement arrives as a person given to the city. יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim, Jerusalem) carries שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness) in its name, so the news is spoken into the place-name of wholeness.
THE ROOT
מְבַשֵּׂר
mevaser
GROWS FROM
בשר
announce, bring news
“bringeth good tidings” in this verse is mevaser. The word for the herald and בְּשׂוֹרָה (besorah, tidings) grow from the same root. English separates the person from the message; Hebrew holds the bearer and the act of announcing together.
ALSO GROWS
besorah: tidings, news
בְּשׂוֹרָה
This is the news the herald carries; the two words share the same root.
bisser: announced, brought news
בִּשֵּׂר
This verb names the herald’s act: making news known.
אֶתֵּן
’etten
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
“give” in this verse is ’etten. The speaker says the herald will be given to Jerusalem. The root also carries the sense of setting or placing, framing the messenger as someone placed within the city’s reach.
ALSO GROWS
natun: given, placed
נָתוּן
This form echoes the verse’s image of a herald placed within Jerusalem’s reach.
mattanah: gift
מַתָּנָה
This related form makes the root’s giving concrete: what is given can be received as a gift.
THE PATTERN
Good news reaches people through a herald whose announcement makes the news present.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.THE THREAD
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!The same Hebrew root בשר (b-s-r; basar, announce or bring news) shapes the herald here and the one who “bringeth good tidings” in Isaiah 52:7. There the news is spoken aloud as peace, deliverance, and God’s reign, giving content to the announcement Isaiah 41:27 leaves unnamed.
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