What Does Isaiah 60:14 Mean in the King James?
The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
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
Those who once make Zion an object of contempt become the mouths that publicly name her by her belonging to the LORD.
THE MEANING
When contempt presses you down, this verse does not pretend the injury is small: those who afflict and despise you are pictured coming low at your feet. Their mouths then name you by belonging to the LORD, as “The city of the LORD”, so rejection is not the deepest truth spoken over you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that the people who despise you have the final authority to name you: those same voices end up calling you by your belonging to the LORD.
THE ROOT
וְקָרְאוּ
wəqārəʾû
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
To call out; by extension, to name, summon, proclaim, or read aloud.
Here the people do more than speak to Zion: qara is also the Hebrew verb for naming and proclaiming. The mouths that voiced contempt now announce an identity anchored in the LORD, making “call thee” a public naming.
ALSO GROWS
qəriʾāh: A calling, recitation, or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
This branch carries the sense of words spoken aloud, as the former despisers now voice Zion’s new designation.
miqrāʾ: An assembly or a public reading.
מִקְרָא
The same root can describe a proclaimed gathering, widening the verse’s naming into a public announcement.
קְדוֹשׁ
qədôš
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
To set apart; to mark as distinct and dedicated.
The title rendered “Holy One” carries the seed of being set apart: it names the LORD as the Set-Apart One, while Zion is named in relation to that nature. This is more than a compliment; it identifies the city by whose presence and belonging define it.
ALSO GROWS
Set-apartness: What is set apart; sacredness.
קֹדֶשׁ
It makes clear that the title points to a distinct belonging, not simply a favorable description.
Sanctuary: A set-apart place; a sanctuary.
מִקְדָּשׁ
This branch links the language of being set apart with a place, echoing Zion’s name as the LORD’s city.
THE PATTERN
People marked by contempt receive a public identity grounded in belonging to God, and former rejecters become witnesses to it.
And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.THE THREAD
And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.Isaiah 60:14 uses qara (קרא, qārāʾ, to call or name) when former despisers call Zion the LORD’s city; Isaiah 62:12 repeats that naming verb when the city is called “Sought out” and “not forsaken.” The shared root shows contempt’s label giving way to a new public name.
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