Isaiah study section
Isaiah word studies
A handful of Hebrew words carry the theology of Isaiah. Tap the speaker next to any word to hear it pronounced.
Key words
קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh) — “Holy”
Usage: Isaiah 6:3; 1:4; 5:19; 40:25 (“the Holy One”)
Meaning: Holy, set apart, transcendent in purity and majesty. The threefold “Holy, holy, holy” and the recurring title “the Holy One of Israel” make holiness the keynote of Isaiah.
Theological Significance: God’s holiness both exposes sin and magnifies grace, for the Holy One is also the Redeemer. Isaiah’s vision of the thrice-holy LORD is echoed in heaven’s worship of God and the Lamb (Revelation 4:8), and John says Isaiah “saw his glory and spoke of him” — of Christ (John 12:41).
יְשׁוּעָה (yeshu’ah) — “Salvation”
Usage: Isaiah 12:2-3; 25:9; 49:6; 52:10
Meaning: Salvation, deliverance, rescue, victory. It is the burden of the whole book, embedded even in the prophet’s name, Isaiah (“the LORD saves”).
Theological Significance: Salvation in Isaiah is God’s own work “to the end of the earth,” not human achievement. Its fullness is found in Jesus — whose name is the Greek form of Yeshua — through whom the Servant’s salvation reaches the nations (Isaiah 49:6; Luke 2:30-32; Acts 13:47).
עִמָּנוּ אֵל (Immanuel) — “God With Us”
Usage: Isaiah 7:14; 8:8, 10
Meaning: “God with us” — the name of the sign-child promised to the house of David, assuring that God is present with His people to save.
Theological Significance: Matthew declares Immanuel fulfilled in the virgin-born Jesus, “God with us” in the flesh (Matthew 1:23). The promise of God’s saving presence culminates in the incarnation and in the final vision, “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Revelation 21:3).
עֶבֶד (ebed) — “Servant”
Usage: Isaiah 42:1; 49:3, 6; 52:13; 53:11
Meaning: A servant or slave, one who serves a master. In the “Servant Songs,” the LORD’s chosen Servant obeys, suffers, and saves.
Theological Significance: The Servant who bears the sin of many is fulfilled in Jesus, who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), and whom the New Testament repeatedly identifies with Isaiah 53 (Acts 8:32-35; 1 Peter 2:22-25).
נָחַם (nacham) — “To Comfort”
Usage: Isaiah 40:1; 49:13; 51:3, 12; 66:13
Meaning: To comfort, console, bring relief. It opens the second half of the book — “Comfort, comfort my people” — and recurs as God’s tender word to His afflicted people.
Theological Significance: God’s comfort flows from His forgiveness and His coming salvation. It is fulfilled in Christ, the consolation of Israel, and in the Spirit, the Comforter, and it reaches its end when God “will wipe away every tear” in the new creation (Isaiah 25:8; Luke 2:25; Revelation 21:4).
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