What Does Isaiah 60:10 Mean in the King James?
And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
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 Hebrew gives “sons” and “build” the same root, so strangers rebuilding your walls becomes an image of kinship made visible.
THE MEANING
Your damaged boundaries are not your final state: people outside your expected circle can help rebuild them, and people with power can serve you. The blow is named plainly; the verse also names favor, compassion, and rebuilding.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that help must come only from insiders: here, strangers are the builders and kings are the servants.
THE ROOT
יִבְנוּ
yivnu
GROWS FROM
בנה
b-n-h
Build, establish.
The verse uses this root in both “sons” (בְּנֵי, b’nei) and “build” (יִבְנוּ, yivnu). English separates family from construction, while Hebrew lets the same root hold them together: the strangers’ work on the walls carries the language of kinship.
ALSO GROWS
ben: son
בֵּן
Its plural construct form, בְּנֵי (b’nei), appears in “sons of strangers,” sharing the root of “build.”
binyan: building, structure
בִּנְיָן
This noun makes the root’s architectural sense explicit: the same seed links people called sons with what is built.
רִחַמְתִּיךָ
riḥamtikha
GROWS FROM
רחם
r-ḥ-m
Show compassion, tender care.
The root of “had mercy” also appears in the Hebrew word for womb. Compassion here has the nearness of protective tenderness; it is not merely an abstract pardon after the smiting is named.
ALSO GROWS
reḥem: womb
רֶחֶם
This related word gives the root’s compassion a bodily image of shelter and care.
raḥum: compassionate
רַחוּם
This adjective names the quality of tender compassion that the verse says is extended to you.
יְשָׁרְתוּנֵךְ
yesharetunek
GROWS FROM
שרת
sh-r-t
Serve, attend, minister.
“minister” in this verse is yesharetunek. The kings’ role is expressed through a root of service. The verse places royal power in a posture of attending to you, so restoration includes a change in how authority is used.
ALSO GROWS
mesharet: minister, attendant
מְשָׁרֵת
This related form names someone who serves or attends, illuminating the service assigned to the kings.
sherut: service
שֵׁרוּת
This noun preserves the root’s focus on service, the action the verse gives to those who rule.
THE PATTERN
Restoration rebuilds what is broken through unexpected hands, while authority takes the shape of service.
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.THE THREAD
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.The root בנה (banah, “build”) links this psalm’s “build” with Isaiah’s “build up.” Isaiah shows unexpected hands rebuilding the walls; this verse opens that image further by locating the work within the LORD’s building and keeping.
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