What Does Isaiah 58:14 Mean in the King James?
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
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 LORD carries you onto the heights and feeds you from an inheritance, so ascent and sustenance arrive as gifts.
THE MEANING
The LORD is the source of your delight; he carries you onto the high places of the earth and nourishes you with Jacob’s inheritance. The promise reaches you as both elevation and food, anchored in the LORD’s spoken word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you must make your own ascent and produce your own portion is undone here: the LORD carries you and feeds you.
THE ROOT
וְהִרְכַּבְתִּיךָ
wə-hirkabtîḵā
GROWS FROM
רכב
To ride or mount; in this causative form, to make someone ride.
“cause thee to ride” in this verse is wə-hirkabtîḵā. The verb makes the LORD the one who gets you onto the heights. Ascent appears as being carried forward, rather than a height you reach by your own power.
ALSO GROWS
rōḵēv: Rider
רֹכֵב
The same root names the one who rides, giving the verse’s ascent a concrete sense of movement.
merkāvāh: Chariot or vehicle
מֶרְכָּבָה
This branch names what carries a rider, echoing the verse’s image of being borne toward the heights.
וְהַאֲכַלְתִּיךָ
wə-haʾăḵaltîḵā
GROWS FROM
אכל
To eat or consume; in this causative form, to feed or cause to eat.
“feed thee” in this verse is wə-haʾăḵaltîḵā. The verse describes Jacob’s inheritance as what feeds you, making the inherited portion nourishment rather than merely something you possess. The promise is pictured as provision taken into life.
ALSO GROWS
ʾōḵel: Food
אֹכֶל
This noun from the same root makes the verse’s feeding image concrete.
maʾăḵāl: Food or something eaten
מַאֲכָל
The word reinforces that the inheritance is given as sustenance.
תִּתְעַנַּג
titʿannag
GROWS FROM
ענג
To delight in or take pleasure in; the root also carries a sense of luxuriating.
“delight thyself” in this verse is titʿannag. The noun for delight in the preceding verse shares this root with the verb here: Sabbath is called a delight, and then delight is found in the LORD. That repeated root links the day’s pleasure with the person’s relationship to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
ʿōneg: Delight or pleasure
עֹנֶג
This noun appears in Isaiah 58:13, where the Sabbath is called a delight.
wə-hitʿannag: And delight yourself
וְהִתְעַנַּג
Psalm 37:4 uses this same root in the invitation to delight in the LORD.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s provision is pictured as both a path onto high ground and food for the journey.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.THE THREAD
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.Both verses use the same Hebrew root for delighting in the LORD. Isaiah unfolds that delight as being carried onto the heights and fed from an inheritance; Psalm 37:4 pairs it with the heart’s desires being given.
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