What Does Isaiah 60:20 Mean in the King James?

Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

Isaiah 60:20 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse’s final word for mourning is completion from the same root that gives Hebrew its word for wholeness.

THE MEANING

Your light does not depend on the sun rising or the moon remaining visible; the LORD is named as light through the ages. Your mourning is not minimized: its days are real, and the verse says they reach completion.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The grief I carry now must remain unfinished and define my life forever.

THE ROOT

שָׁלְמוּ

shalmu

GROWS FROM

שלם

sh-l-m

To be complete or whole.

“ended” in this verse is shalmu. Hebrew says the days of mourning “shall be completed” with ⁨שָׁלְמוּ⁩ (shalmu), from ⁨שלם⁩ (sh-l-m), the root that also gives shalom (⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩), wholeness. The ending of grief therefore carries the shape of wholeness, not merely the absence of sorrow.

ALSO GROWS

shalom: Wholeness, well-being.

שָׁלוֹם

Psalm 29:11 uses this word for what the LORD gives; it connects mourning’s completion with wholeness.

shalem: Whole, complete.

שָׁלֵם

This branch echoes the verse’s claim that mourning’s days reach their completion.

shillem: Repay, make good.

שִׁלֵּם

This branch carries the sense of making something complete, deepening the verse’s image of what has been lacking being made whole.

THE PATTERN

The LORD’s light outlasts created cycles, and grief does not have the final word.

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalm 30:5 · KJVWeeping has its night, but the verse gives it a boundary and names morning beyond it.

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

Isaiah 25:8 · KJVThe LORD removes what sustains grief and wipes tears from every face.

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Revelation 21:23 · KJVGod’s light no longer depends on the sun or moon, carrying Isaiah’s image into its fullest form.

THE THREAD

The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

Psalm 29:11 · KJV

The Hebrew word translated “peace” is ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom), from the same root as ⁨שָׁלְמוּ⁩ (shalmu), “shall be completed,” in Isaiah. The shared root links mourning’s completion with the wholeness the LORD gives.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us