What Does Isaiah 49:23 Mean in the King James?
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
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 rulers’ power becomes care: they steady and nourish you, then bow at your feet.
THE MEANING
Powers above you become steady guardians, and their queens become sources of nourishment. Their bowed bodies and the dust at your feet make the reversal visible. You recognize the LORD in this restoration, and those who wait for him are not left in shame.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that waiting for the LORD ends in humiliation or means you have been forgotten; this verse says the waiters are not put to shame.
THE ROOT
אֹמְנַיִךְ
ʾomənayikh
GROWS FROM
אמן
ʾ-m-n
To be firm, support, or sustain.
The word translated “nursing fathers” carries the sense of foster fathers or guardians. Its root connects care with steadiness: these rulers become people who uphold and support you.
ALSO GROWS
ʾomen: Foster father, guardian.
אֹמֵן
This is the form behind the kings’ caregiving role in the verse.
emunah: Steadiness, trust.
אֱמוּנָה
The shared root links the rulers’ care with being dependable.
amen: Firm, sure; an affirmation.
אָמֵן
The same seed of firmness appears in the steady support pictured here.
וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ
ve-hishtachavu
GROWS FROM
שחה
sh-ḥ-h
To bow down or prostrate oneself.
“bow down” in this verse is ve-hishtachavu. The verse makes the reversal bodily: the rulers do not merely recognize your restoration; they bend face to the earth before you. The posture shows who now stands in the place of honor and who serves.
ALSO GROWS
shachah: To bow down.
שָׁחָה
This is the root action that appears in the rulers’ posture.
hishtachavah: To bow oneself down, prostrate oneself.
הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה
This form makes the act of bending oneself explicit.
קֹוָי
qovay
GROWS FROM
קוה
q-w-h
To wait for, look toward with expectation; hence, to hope.
The verse names those who wait as people whose expectation is directed toward the LORD. It joins that waiting to the promise that they are not put to shame.
ALSO GROWS
qavah: To wait for, look toward, hope.
קָוָה
This verb names the expectation held by those addressed in the closing promise.
miqveh: Hope, expectation.
מִקְוֶה
This related form carries the same root’s sense of looking toward what is expected.
THE PATTERN
In restoration, authority is shown through care and service as the powerful bend toward those they once overshadowed.
The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.THE THREAD
Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.Both verses join קוה (qavah), “wait,” with בוש (bosh), “be ashamed.” Psalm 25:3 voices the plea; Isaiah 49:23 shows the answer as care arriving and rulers bowing.
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