כִּי (ki)
ki
branding
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Word Overview
The noun kî in this specific form describes a brand or mark produced by fire. It appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in Isaiah 3:24. The image is visceral and immediate: just as livestock are marked with hot irons to identify ownership, people will bear visible signs of their condition.
Isaiah uses this stark metaphor to depict the consequences of leadership failure. The text contrasts jewelry and fine clothes with "branding" (or burning). This suggests a loss of dignity and identity, replaced by a permanent, painful mark of shame or subjugation. It is a powerful visual of how societal collapse leaves its owners indelibly marked.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word kî in Isaiah 3:24 paints a startling picture of loss. It refers to a brand made by fire, a permanent mark left on skin or livestock to show ownership. In this verse, beautiful things are replaced by shame and decay. The people lose their dignity and are marked by the consequences of their leaders' failures.
This image reminds us that our true identity does not come from how we look or what we wear. When society collapses, external beauty fades, but God sees the heart. We find our worth not in temporary status, but in being known and claimed by Him. He marks us with His Spirit, a seal of love that no fire can destroy.
Even when life feels like it is stripping away our pride, we are never truly abandoned. Our value remains secure in Christ. This hope anchors us when everything else changes.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- branding1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- כִּי\־1×
Key Verses
-
Isaiah 3:24
It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair, baldness; instead of a robe, a wearing of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.
This verse uses the word to contrast fleeting beauty with a permanent, painful mark of shame caused by societal collapse.