What Does Psalm 10:16 Mean in the King James?
The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
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 land does not belong to the power that occupies it; its lasting ruler is the LORD.
THE MEANING
The LORD reigns through every age, beyond the reach of any passing nation. The nations in his land perish and are gone from it. The verse holds enduring kingship beside the loss of those who occupy the land.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The powerful nations occupying God’s land have the final word.
THE ROOT
אָבְדוּ
ʾāvdû
GROWS FROM
א-ב-ד
ʾ-b-d
To perish or be lost.
“perished” in this verse is ʾāvdû. אָבַד holds both perishing and being lost: the nations are gone from the land, and the same root can describe a way that is lost. Their disappearance echoes a path reaching its end.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāvad: To perish or be lost.
אָבַד
This verb names the fate of the nations in the verse.
ʾavēdāh: A lost thing or loss.
אֲבֵדָה
This related form keeps the sense of something that is no longer there.
עוֹלָם
ʿolām
GROWS FROM
ע-ל-ם
ʿ-l-m
An age or distant duration; associated with what is beyond ordinary sight.
“for ever” in this verse is ʿolām. עוֹלָם names an age or distant duration, a horizon beyond ordinary sight. Here the LORD’s kingship spans that whole reach, while the nations’ tenure in his land ends.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālam: To hide or conceal.
עָלַם
Its sense of what is out of sight illuminates the distant horizon carried by עוֹלָם.
neʿlām: Hidden or concealed.
נֶעְלָם
This related form echoes the unseen reach of an age beyond the present view.
מֶלֶךְ
melekh
GROWS FROM
מ-ל-ך
m-l-k
To reign or rule.
The same root names the king, the act of reigning, and the realm of rule. The LORD’s kingship therefore names active governance as well as a royal title.
ALSO GROWS
mālak: To reign.
מָלַךְ
The verb makes the king’s rule an active reality.
malkût: Kingship, kingdom, or rule.
מַלְכוּת
This branch names the realm and authority held by the king.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s reign outlasts every human kingdom and the nations that occupy the land.
The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.THE THREAD
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.Psalm 10:16 uses אָבְדוּ (ʾāvdû, they perished), from אבד (ʾ-b-d, perish or be lost); Psalm 1:6 uses that same root for the way of the ungodly. Their shared word lets the vanished nations echo a way that itself comes to an end.
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