What Does Isaiah 64:5 Mean in the King James?
Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
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
God meets practiced alignment, while the verse refuses to make divine anger the end of deliverance.
THE MEANING
God meets the person whose joy takes shape in alignment and who remembers God’s ways. The verse names anger over human sin without hiding it, yet holds continuance and deliverance alongside that anger. Encounter, accountability, and rescue remain in the same living field.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
God’s anger over human sin does not mean deliverance is impossible; this verse holds both together.
THE ROOT
וְנִוָּשֵׁעַ
wenivvashea
GROWS FROM
י־ש־ע
y-sh-ʿ
To deliver, bringing someone out of constriction into safety and spaciousness.
The word translated “saved” comes from the root of deliverance: being brought out into safety and room. Set beside “righteousness,” it keeps rescue joined to the life aligned with God’s ways.
ALSO GROWS
yeshuah: Deliverance, rescue.
יְשׁוּעָה
This noun shares the root and names the outcome held before the reader in this verse.
moshia: Deliverer, rescuer.
מוֹשִׁיעַ
The same root names the one who brings someone out, keeping deliverance active rather than abstract.
צֶדֶק
tsedeq
GROWS FROM
צ־ד־ק
ts-d-q
Rightness and justice; alignment with what is right.
“righteousness” in this verse is tsedeq. This root reaches beyond an inward status: its branches name both the just person and justice in action. Here, rejoicing takes shape as alignment practiced and remembered in God’s ways.
ALSO GROWS
tsaddiq: A righteous or just person.
צַדִּיק
This branch names the person whose life reflects the alignment expressed in the verse.
tsedaqah: Righteousness, justice; also just action toward others.
צְדָקָה
It shows that the root’s alignment can be lived out as action, not held only as an idea.
פָּגַעְתָּ
paga'ta
GROWS FROM
פ־ג־ע
p-g-ʿ
To encounter or come upon; in some forms, to intercede.
“meetest” in this verse is paga'ta. The verb is encounter: God comes upon the person directly. Elsewhere the same root describes intercession, giving the word a sense of contact and engagement rather than distant approval.
ALSO GROWS
vayyifga: He came upon or met (Genesis 28:11).
וַיִּפְגַּע
This form shows the root’s concrete sense of encountering or coming upon.
tipga: You intercede or plead (Jeremiah 7:16).
תִּפְגַּע
This use shows how encounter can extend into direct appeal and engagement.
THE PATTERN
Encounter with God is bound to lived alignment with God’s ways, and that meeting opens toward deliverance.
All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.THE THREAD
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.The roots צ־ד־ק (ts-d-q, alignment and rightness) and י־ש־ע (y-sh-ʿ, deliverance) underlie Isaiah 64:5’s “righteousness” and “saved.” Isaiah 45:8 makes their pairing visible: righteousness and deliverance spring up together.
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