What Does 1 Chronicles 16:33 Mean in the King James?

Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth.

1 Chronicles 16:33 · KJV

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

The forest sings as the LORD comes to judge the earth, so judgment arrives here as something the living world can answer with joy.

THE MEANING

The trees are not silent scenery before the LORD; they sing in his presence. As this verse meets you now, the LORD’s coming judgment reaches the earth as a whole, and creation answers that arrival with a voice.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The earth is only a passive object of divine judgment. Here the trees themselves sing as the LORD comes to judge it.

THE ROOT

יִרְנְנוּ

yirannenu

GROWS FROM

רנן

to ring out, cry aloud, sing

“sing out” in this verse is yirannenu. The related noun ⁨רִנָּה⁩ (rinnah, “ringing cry, song”) carries the same voiced response in another branch. The trees’ song is an audible answer to the LORD’s arrival, not just a decorative image of the landscape.

ALSO GROWS

rinnah: ringing cry, song

רִנָּה

It shows that the root carries the sound of a voiced response as well as the act of singing.

ronen: singing, rejoicing

רֹנֵן

This related form keeps the root’s sense of sound rising into joyful expression.

לִשְׁפּוֹט

lishpot

GROWS FROM

שפט

to judge, decide, render judgment

English can make “judge” sound like one isolated act. The same root names the judgment itself in ⁨מִשְׁפָּט⁩ (mishpat, “judgment, justice”) and the judge in ⁨שֹׁפֵט⁩ (shofet, “one who judges”); here, that judgment reaches the earth itself, with the forest singing within its scope.

ALSO GROWS

mishpat: judgment, verdict, justice

מִשְׁפָּט

The judgment is not separate from the act of judging; both grow from the same root.

shofet: judge, one who renders judgment

שֹׁפֵט

This branch names the one who carries out the judgment announced in the verse.

THE PATTERN

When God moves the world toward justice and freedom, creation is pictured as responding with voice and joy.

Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together

Psalm 98:8 · KJVThe waters and hills join creation’s celebration, and the next verse links that celebration to the LORD judging the earth.

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Isaiah 55:12 · KJVMountains, hills, and trees become celebrants, giving the natural world its own voice.

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Romans 8:21 · KJVCreation itself receives freedom from corruption, participating in the world’s renewal rather than serving as its backdrop.

THE THREAD

Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

Psalm 98:9 · KJV

The same root ⁨שפט⁩ (shaphat, “judge”) appears here and in Psalm 98:9. That verse pairs judgment with righteousness and equity, opening the trees’ song as a response to the LORD’s judgment reaching the whole earth.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us