What Does Isaiah 60:9 Mean in the King James?
Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified 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 returning sons and treasure do not create Zion’s honor; they arrive because the LORD has already adorned her.
THE MEANING
You are shown the far coming near: people who seem distant, and what they carry, move toward the LORD’s name, his nature, and the one set apart. The one addressed already bears the LORD’s adornment before the sons or treasure arrive, so their return answers to an honor already given.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you must first gather enough people, resources, or recognition to become worthy is undone: the verse places the LORD’s adornment before their arrival.
THE ROOT
פֵאֲרָךְ
pe’arekha
GROWS FROM
פ־א־ר
To adorn, beautify, bring into splendor.
The KJV’s “glorified” comes from the same word family as adornment and beauty. The sons and wealth arrive after the LORD has already adorned the one addressed; their return reveals an honor already given.
ALSO GROWS
pe’er: Ornament; headdress.
פְּאֵר
This root’s adornment is tangible: something visible that marks dignity.
tif’eret: Beauty; splendor.
תִּפְאֶרֶת
The same root names displayed beauty and honor, giving “glory” a concrete image.
בָּנַיִךְ
banayikh
GROWS FROM
ב־נ־ה
To build, establish.
The word for “sons” belongs to a word family tied to building. The return from far away is therefore also an image of a household being rebuilt through the return of its people.
ALSO GROWS
ben: Son.
בֵּן
This is the singular form behind the verse’s “sons,” linking descendants with the language of building a household.
binyan: Building; structure.
בִּנְיָן
The same word family reaches into construction, so the returning sons also figure in what is being rebuilt.
קָדוֹשׁ
qadosh
GROWS FROM
ק־ד־ש
To set apart, dedicate.
“Holy One” in this verse is qadosh. The returning people and their wealth move toward the LORD’s name, his nature, and the Set-Apart One. This root makes the destination a relationship with the one set apart.
ALSO GROWS
qodesh: Set-apartness; what is sacred.
קֹדֶשׁ
The title “Holy One” carries the quality of being set apart at its root.
miqdash: Sanctuary; set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The same root names a place set apart, connecting the divine title with a space dedicated to the divine.
THE PATTERN
When the LORD’s honor is revealed, people from far away are gathered toward it with their gifts.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.THE THREAD
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.Isaiah 61:3 uses the same root פ־א־ר (pa’ar, adorn or beautify) for “beauty” and “glorified.” The shared root reveals the LORD’s glory through beauty restored where there were ashes, deepening the image of the one already adorned in Isaiah 60:9.
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