What Does Isaiah 62:12 Mean in the King James?
And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
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 city is not merely rescued from abandonment; it is named by the active pursuit that claims it: Sought Out.
THE MEANING
You are named among a people reclaimed by the LORD and set apart for him. The city bears the present name “sought out” and is explicitly not forsaken.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that abandonment defines you permanently; here, the city is named sought out instead.
THE ROOT
דְּרוּשָׁה
derushah
GROWS FROM
דרש
To seek, inquire, or require.
English makes “sought out” sound like a status, but the Hebrew word grows from darash, to seek or inquire: the city bears the shape of active searching. Its name points to a relationship, not just a location.
ALSO GROWS
darash: To seek or inquire.
דָּרַשׁ
The city’s name carries the same action as the root: it is the one being sought.
midrash: Inquiry, study, or exposition.
מִדְרָשׁ
This branch shows the root’s searching can become sustained inquiry; “sought out” names more than a passing glance.
גְּאוּלֵי
ge'ulei
GROWS FROM
גאל
To reclaim or redeem, especially by acting as a kinsman.
Redeemed carries the sense of being reclaimed by one who acts as family protector. Here the LORD’s reclaiming means more than escape from trouble: it restores belonging.
ALSO GROWS
go'el: A kinsman-redeemer; one who reclaims or protects a relative.
גֹּאֵל
This branch makes the relational force of “redeemed” visible: the people are claimed back as kin.
ge'ullah: Redemption or reclaiming.
גְּאֻלָּה
The related noun names the restoring act behind the people’s renewed identity.
קָדוֹשׁ
qadosh
GROWS FROM
קדש
To set apart or consecrate.
“Holy” in this verse is qadosh. The root links the people called qadosh, set apart, with both set-apartness and the act of consecrating. Here their distinction sits beside redemption and seeking: it is an identity of belonging, not a claim of flawlessness.
ALSO GROWS
qodesh: Set-apartness; what is set apart.
קֹדֶשׁ
The people’s name is joined to the same root that describes what belongs in a set-apart relation.
qiddesh: To consecrate or set apart.
קִדֵּשׁ
This branch shows that “holy” is connected to the act of marking something as belonging to God.
THE PATTERN
Restoration becomes visible when a label of rejection is replaced by a name of belonging.
And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:THE THREAD
I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.Both verses use דרש (darash, to seek or inquire): here the city is named “sought out,” and there the speaker says, “I am sought.” The shared root makes seeking a relationship that defines both the one sought and the one who seeks.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us