This adjective form appears only in Isaiah 49:6 (Ketiv) as part of the phrase describing the Servant's mission: to 'raise up the preserved of Israel.' The Qere reads נְצוּרֵי (from נָצַר, 'to watch, guard, preserve'), referring to the surviving remnant—those whom God has kept safe through judgment and exile. The Servant's task extends beyond Israel to be 'a light to the nations,' but begins with restoring the 'preserved ones,' the faithful remnant. This theme of the guarded remnant runs through Isaiah's theology of judgment and restoration.