What Does 1 Chronicles 16:35 Mean?
And say, Deliver us, O God of our deliverance; gather us, and snatch us from the nations, that we may extend our hands in thanks to your set-apart nature, and shout in your praise.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.THE KEY
The Hebrew uses the same root for “save us” and “our salvation,” making deliverance both the plea and the nature of the one addressed.
THE MEANING
You ask the God whose nature is deliverance to save you, gather you, and bring you out from among the nations so you can give thanks to his set-apart name and glory in his praise. Rescue moves from scattering into belonging, then opens into shared gratitude.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that rescue ends with getting out: the verse carries deliverance through gathering and into shared gratitude.
THE ROOT
הוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ
hoshiʿenu
GROWS FROM
ישע
ישע (yashaʿ): deliver, rescue, bring out into spaciousness.
“Deliver us” in this verse is hoshiʿenu. The verse’s forms for “save us” and “our salvation” come from one seed, so deliverance is both the plea and the nature of the one addressed. The word carries rescue as movement out of narrowness into spaciousness.
ALSO GROWS
yishʿenu: our deliverance, our salvation
יִשְׁעֵנוּ
This verse’s “salvation” comes from the same root as “save us,” joining the request to the nature it names.
moshiaʿ: deliverer, one who rescues
מוֹשִׁיעַ
The deliverer grows from the same seed as deliverance, showing rescue as the character of the one being called upon.
yeshuah: deliverance
יְשׁוּעָה
This familiar noun carries the same root into the idea of being brought out.
קַבְּצֵנוּ
qabbetsenu
GROWS FROM
קבץ
קבץ (qavats): gather, collect, assemble.
“Gather us” in this verse is qabbetsenu. This root makes deliverance communal: the scattered are gathered together. The verse carries rescue toward belonging and a shared voice of thanksgiving.
ALSO GROWS
qibbetz: he gathered, collected
קִבֵּץ
The verb names the act behind the plea: bringing what is scattered into one place.
qevutsah: group, collection
קְבוּצָה
The gathered people form a group; the root gives the verse’s rescue a shared destination.
קָדְשֶׁךָ
qodshekha
GROWS FROM
קדש
קדש (qadash): set apart, make distinct.
“your set-apart nature” in this verse is qodshekha. The verse’s שֵׁם (shem, “name”) is the nature and character being invoked, and this root marks that nature as set apart. Giving thanks to this name means the gathered people recognize the distinct character of the one who delivers them.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: set apart, distinct
קָדוֹשׁ
The root’s adjective describes the distinct character of the name praised in the verse.
miqdash: set-apart place, sanctuary
מִקְדָּשׁ
A sanctuary is a place marked as set apart, showing how this root’s distinctness can take form in a shared space.
THE PATTERN
Deliverance gathers scattered people into a shared voice of gratitude and praise.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he has redeemed from the hand of the one who presses.At that time I will bring you again, and in the time I gather you; for I will give you for a name and a praise among all peoples of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, says the LORD.Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the assembly each day those who were being delivered.THE THREAD
Deliver us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, to extend our hands to your set-apart nature, and to shout in your praise.Its Hebrew repeats הוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ (hoshiʿenu, “save us”) from ישע (yashaʿ, “deliver”), and קַבְּצֵנוּ (qabbetsenu, “gather us”) from קבץ (qavats, “gather”). The shared wording makes the movement visible: rescue gathers the scattered, and gathering opens into thanks and praise.
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