What Does Isaiah 59:15 Mean in the King James?
Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
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
When truth disappears, even turning away from evil can make a person prey, and the LORD sees the justice that has failed them.
THE MEANING
When truth is missing, a person who turns from evil can become exposed to exploitation. The LORD sees both that exposure and the absence of judgment; the collapse is not invisible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that doing right guarantees protection. This verse shows that turning from evil can leave a person vulnerable when justice fails.
THE ROOT
אֱמֶת
emet
GROWS FROM
אמן
ʾ-m-n
To be firm, reliable, or steady.
Truth carries the sense of what is firm enough to rely on. When it is absent, the ground that should hold people steady gives way, leaving the one who turns from evil exposed.
ALSO GROWS
emunah: Trust, steadiness, or faithfulness.
אֱמוּנָה
This branch shows truth as something dependable enough to lean on.
heʾemin: To trust or believe.
הֶאֱמִין
Believing is the act of placing weight on what is firm, joining truth to lived trust.
amen: Firm; truly; so be it.
אָמֵן
Even the closing word “Amen” carries the sense of affirming what is steady and reliable.
מִשְׁתּוֹלֵל
mishtōlēl
GROWS FROM
שלל
š-l-l
To plunder or take as spoil.
“a prey” in this verse is mishtōlēl. The wording casts the person who turns from evil as spoil, the object of someone else’s taking. Integrity does not itself prevent exploitation when the surrounding order lets plunder go unchecked.
ALSO GROWS
shalal: Spoil or booty.
שָׁלָל
This noun names what is seized, revealing the prey as the target of plunder.
shalal: To plunder or seize as spoil.
שָׁלַל
This verb exposes the taking behind the image of becoming prey.
מִשְׁפָּט
mishpat
GROWS FROM
שפט
š-p-ṭ
To judge or decide.
Mishpat is the ordering work of judging fairly, not only a verdict after wrongdoing. The verse grieves that no just judgment stands between the person turning from evil and those who would exploit them.
ALSO GROWS
shaphat: To judge or render judgment.
שָׁפַט
The verb shows judgment as an active response, not an abstract idea.
shofet: A judge, one who judges.
שֹׁפֵט
This branch points to the person whose task is to make judgment present.
THE PATTERN
When truth and just judgment collapse, people who turn from evil can become vulnerable, and their suffering is seen.
How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;THE THREAD
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.The verb “believed,” הֶאֱמִין (heʾemin, trusted), grows from the same אמן (ʾ-m-n, to be firm or reliable) root family as אֱמֶת (emet, truth). Trust leans on what is firm; Isaiah shows the exposure that follows when truth no longer provides that ground.
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