What Does Isaiah 43:22 Mean in the King James?
But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
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 same chapter says God called Jacob by name before Jacob grew too weary to call God.
THE MEANING
There is no call toward God here, and the stated cause is weariness with God. Yet God still addresses the weary one as Jacob and Israel, so the silence exists inside an ongoing encounter.
THE ROOT
קָרָאתָ
qārāʾtā
GROWS FROM
קרא
Q-R-A
To call out, proclaim, or name.
“called upon” in this verse is qārāʾtā. The verb for Jacob’s not calling God is the same verb used in Isaiah 43:1 when God says, “I have called thee by thy name.” One Hebrew root holds both directions of address: God calls Jacob, and Jacob does not call God.
ALSO GROWS
qara: To call aloud or identify by name.
קָרָא
It links this missing call to God’s earlier act of calling Jacob personally.
miqra: A gathering called together, or a public reading.
מִקְרָא
This branch shows how calling can summon people into a shared encounter.
יָגַעְתָּ
yāgaʿtā
GROWS FROM
יגע
Y-G-ʿ
To labor or toil, and to become weary through exertion.
The word translated “weary” carries the sense of toil and exhaustion. The verse presents the lack of calling alongside a relationship that has become tiring, not merely as an empty space where words should be.
ALSO GROWS
yāgēaʿ: Worn down through exertion.
יָגֵעַ
It makes the weariness in the verse feel like depletion, not just a passing mood.
yegiaʿ: Work or effort expended.
יְגִיעַ
It reveals the labor inside the word for weariness: the relationship is experienced as something exhausting.
THE PATTERN
God’s address reaches people even when they are not calling or seeking.
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.THE THREAD
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.The verb קרא (qara, “call”) appears in both verses: God says, “I have called thee by thy name,” then names Jacob’s failure to call upon him. The shared root makes the silence a response within a relationship God has already initiated.
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