What Does Isaiah 62:4 Mean in the King James?
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
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
“Hephzi-bah” (חֶפְצִי־בָהּ, ḥep̄ṣî-bāh: “my delight is in her”) and “Beulah” (בְּעוּלָה, beʿulah: “married”) make the promise itself the new names.
THE MEANING
The old names no longer hold: you are no longer called forsaken, and your land is no longer called desolate. You are called Hephzi-bah (חֶפְצִי־בָהּ, ḥep̄ṣî-bāh: “my delight is in her”), while your land is called Beulah (בְּעוּלָה, beʿulah: “married”), because the LORD delights in you and your land is spoken of as joined in marriage.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that being left behind or made desolate is your final identity, with no possibility of delight or joined life.
THE ROOT
בְּעוּלָה
beʿulah
GROWS FROM
בעל
b-ʿ-l
To marry or be joined as husband and wife; as a noun, husband.
“Beulah / shall be married” in this verse is beʿulah. בְּעוּלָה (beʿulah, “married”) and תִּבָּעֵל (tibbaʿel, “shall be married”) come from the same root, בעל (b-ʿ-l). The new name is the land’s promised condition compressed into a single word.
ALSO GROWS
baʿal: Husband
בַּעַל
The same root can name the husband, holding the relationship and the person within it together.
beʿulah: Married; a married woman
בְּעוּלָה
This is the name given to the land, so its new name carries the change in its relationship.
tibbaʿel: Shall be married
תִּבָּעֵל
This is the verse’s closing promise for the land, from the same root as its new name.
חֶפְצִי־בָהּ
ḥep̄ṣî-bāh
GROWS FROM
חפץ
ḥ-p-ṣ
To desire, take pleasure in, or delight.
“Hephzi-bah / delighteth” in this verse is ḥep̄ṣî-bāh. The name חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (ḥep̄ṣî-bāh, “my delight is in her”) echoes חָפֵץ (ḥāfēṣ, “delights”), the word describing the LORD’s regard for you. The name is the verse’s declaration of delight compressed into a name.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāfēṣ: Delights in; desires
חָפֵץ
This is the verb used for the LORD’s delight in you.
ḥēp̄eṣ: Delight, desire, pleasure
חֵפֶץ
The related noun shows that the root holds both the act of delighting and the delight itself.
עֲזוּבָה
ʿazuvah
GROWS FROM
עזב
ʿ-z-b
To leave, abandon, or forsake.
עֲזוּבָה (ʿazuvah, “forsaken”) is built from עזב (ʿ-z-b, “to leave or abandon”). The verse does not pretend abandonment never happened; it says that abandonment is no longer your name.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāzav: To leave or abandon
עָזַב
The verb behind “forsaken” names the act that the verse says no longer defines you.
ʿāzuv: Abandoned; deserted
עָזוּב
This related form describes the state the verse removes as a lasting name.
THE PATTERN
A name of abandonment gives way to a name of enduring relationship and delight.
For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.THE THREAD
For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.Isaiah 62:5 repeats בעל (baʿal, “to marry” or “be a husband”) in “marrieth” and “marry,” the root behind “Beulah” and “shall be married” in this verse. It makes the new name visible as a bond, then adds rejoicing as its expression.
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