What Does Isaiah 52:13 Mean in the King James?
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
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 servant’s ascent begins with a word for insight and success, then the Hebrew stacks three forms of rising.
THE MEANING
The verse binds the servant’s discernment to his being raised: wisdom and honor appear in one movement. Service here is not insignificance; the one called servant is also the one made unmistakably high.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that service means permanent obscurity or that a servant cannot bear honor.
THE ROOT
יַשְׂכִּיל
yaskil
GROWS FROM
שׂכל
s-k-l
Act wisely, understand, prosper.
“deal prudently” in this verse is yaskil. Yaskil carries the sense of insight made effective, including success or prosperity. The same root appears in Psalm 32:8 as “instruct,” where insight becomes guidance.
ALSO GROWS
sekel: Understanding, insight, good sense.
שֵׂכֶל
This noun makes explicit the understanding carried within the servant’s wise action.
maskil: Insightful or instructive; also a designation for a psalm.
מַשְׂכִּיל
The word’s use for an instructive composition shows how this root’s insight can be communicated to guide another.
וְנִשָּׂא
venissa
GROWS FROM
נשׂא
n-s-ʾ
Lift, carry, bear.
“extolled” in this verse is venissa. Nissa comes from the root for lifting and bearing, so the servant’s being raised is linguistically connected to carrying. Isaiah 53:12 uses this same root when it says he “bare the sin of many,” holding elevation and burden-bearing in one verbal family.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: To lift, carry, bear.
נָשָׂא
This is the verb behind “extolled” here and “bare” in Isaiah 53:12; one root carries both movements.
nasi: Leader, prince.
נָשִׂיא
This related form names a person of public standing, connecting the root’s lifting sense with elevation into honor.
יָרוּם
yarum
GROWS FROM
רום
r-w-m
Rise, be high; raise, exalt.
“exalted” in this verse is yarum. The first elevation verb, יָרוּם (yarum, rise), is followed by וְנִשָּׂא (venissa, be lifted) and וְגָבַהּ (vegavah, be high). The sequence forms a deliberate crescendo, not a single honor-word.
ALSO GROWS
ram: High, exalted.
רָם
This related form describes height as a state, echoing the servant’s rising into honor.
marom: Height, high place.
מָרוֹם
This noun makes the vertical sense explicit and echoes the verse’s closing image of being very high.
THE PATTERN
God raises the lowly into visible honor, so service and exaltation can occupy the same life.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:THE THREAD
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.The word rendered “extolled” comes from נשׂא (nasa, to lift, carry, bear), the same root translated “bare” here. The servant’s rising is spoken beside his carrying: elevation does not erase the burden he bears.
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