What Does Isaiah 59:20 Mean in the King James?
And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
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 Redeemer reclaims the broken bond, and the verse joins that reclaiming to a turning back from rebellion.
THE MEANING
The Redeemer comes to Zion, and his reclaiming presence meets those turning from rebellion. The reader now sees rupture named plainly, while return and redemption remain part of the same living movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that rebellion places someone beyond return is undone here: the verse names a turning back and the Redeemer who reclaims.
THE ROOT
גֹּאֵל
go’el
GROWS FROM
גאל
gā’al
To redeem or reclaim, especially by acting as a near relative.
The Redeemer is more than someone who pays a price: the word carries the sense of a kinsman reclaiming what has been estranged. The verse presents redemption as the restoration of belonging.
ALSO GROWS
gā’al: Redeem, reclaim
גָּאַל
The verb shows the action carried by the Redeemer: what is estranged is reclaimed.
ge’ullāh: Redemption; the right of redemption
גְּאֻלָּה
This branch names redemption as a recognized path back to what belongs within the family bond.
שָׁבֵי
shāvē
GROWS FROM
שוב
shuv
To return or turn back.
“turn” in this verse is shāvē. The word for turning carries movement back, not merely a change of opinion. Its root can also name turning away, so return answers a real departure.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Return, turn back
שׁוּב
This is the basic movement expressed by those turning from rebellion.
meshūvāh: Turning away; backsliding
מְשׁוּבָה
The same root can name the drift away, making the return in this verse a reversal of that movement.
פֶּשַׁע
peshaʿ
GROWS FROM
פשע
pāshaʿ
To rebel or break away.
“transgression” in this verse is peshaʿ. The word holds the weight of rebellion and rupture, not only an isolated misstep. Set beside the root for return, it reveals a movement from breaking away toward reclaimed belonging.
ALSO GROWS
pāshaʿ: Rebel, break away
פָּשַׁע
The verb exposes the relational rupture carried by the noun in this verse.
pōshēaʿ: One who rebels
פֹּשֵׁעַ
This branch names a person by the act of rebellion, while the verse also leaves room for that person to turn back.
THE PATTERN
Scripture joins divine reclaiming with a return from rupture.
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:THE THREAD
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.The verse brings together פְּשָׁעֶיךָ (peshaʿekha, your rebellions), שׁוּבָה (shuvah, return), and גְּאַלְתִּיךָ (ge’altikha, I have redeemed you), the same roots of rupture, turning, and reclaiming found here. Rebellion is fully named, yet it does not become the final identity: return and redemption stand beside it.
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