What Does Isaiah 51:4 Mean in the King James?
Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.
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
God’s instruction goes out, and God’s judgment settles as light for the peoples: direction and illumination arrive together.
THE MEANING
God’s instruction reaches you as direction, and God’s judgment settles as light for the peoples. Truth becomes visible, offering illumination for the way ahead.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that divine judgment only condemns; here, God’s judgment rests as light for people.
THE ROOT
תּוֹרָה
torah
GROWS FROM
יָרָה
yarah
to point, direct, or teach
“law” in this verse is torah. Torah carries the sense of direction and teaching, the act of pointing a way. Because this instruction proceeds from God alongside judgment made light, the verse joins being directed with seeing clearly.
ALSO GROWS
yarah: to point, direct, or teach
יָרָה
The root shows instruction as direction: it points toward a way.
moreh: teacher or instructor
מוֹרֶה
The teacher is one who directs through instruction, echoing the Torah that proceeds from God.
אוֹר
or
GROWS FROM
אוֹר
or
light; to shine or illuminate
This root holds both light and the act of shining. The verse presents God’s judgment as illumination for people, making what is true visible.
ALSO GROWS
he'ir: to shine or illuminate
הֵאִיר
This verb shows light as an action that makes something visible, matching the judgment that becomes light for the peoples.
ma'or: luminary or light-bearer
מָאוֹר
This branch names what gives light, echoing the verse’s image of judgment serving as light.
THE PATTERN
God’s instruction goes outward as light that lets people see and walk.
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.THE THREAD
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:The Hebrew word translated “law” here and in Isaiah 51:4 is תּוֹרָה (torah), instruction from the root יָרָה (yarah), “to direct or teach.” Proverbs makes the pairing explicit: Torah is light, and instruction is a way of life.
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