What Does Psalm 104:19 Mean in the King James?

He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

Psalm 104:19 · 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

What the verse calls “seasons” are appointed times of meeting, so the moon turns the sky into a calendar of return.

THE MEANING

The sky above you marks time through recurrence: the moon keeps appointed times, and the sun’s setting has a known place in that rhythm. Time is not featureless; it returns in measures that make room for appointed occasions and daily endings.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the belief that time is an empty stream in which every day is interchangeable: the created order gives time recurring shape and appointed points of return.

THE ROOT

מוֹעֲדִים

mo'adim

GROWS FROM

יעד

ya’ad, appoint, designate, or set for a meeting

English “seasons” can sound like weather, but ⁨מוֹעֲדִים⁩ (mo’adim, appointed times) also names set occasions for meeting. The moon marks time as an ordered return, a rhythm that gives recurring occasions their place.

ALSO GROWS

ya'ad: appoint, designate

יָעַד

This verb shows that the time marked by the moon is assigned a place in the rhythm, not merely noticed as it passes.

mo'ed: appointed time, meeting

מוֹעֵד

This singular noun from the same root makes the appointed time a meeting point: the moon’s cycle marks occasions that return.

יָדַע

yada'

GROWS FROM

ידע

yada’ know, recognize, become acquainted with

“knoweth” in this verse is yada'. Hebrew ⁨יָדַע⁩ (yada’, know) can carry the sense of recognition through encounter, not information alone. The sun’s setting is described as known within a dependable sequence, so the sky is not merely measured but patterned.

ALSO GROWS

yodea: one who knows

יוֹדֵעַ

This participle presents knowing as an ongoing state, echoing the sun’s sure place in its recurring course.

yedi'ah: knowledge, knowing

יְדִיעָה

This noun carries the same root into “knowing” itself, linking the sun’s known setting with a recognizable order.

THE PATTERN

Creation gives time recurring measures through which appointed moments can be recognized.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Genesis 1:14 · KJVThe lights in the heavens mark recurring divisions of time, making the sky a measure for days, years, and appointed seasons.

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22 · KJVThe earth’s ongoing life is expressed through recurring cycles that give time a reliable shape.

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Acts 1:7 · KJVTimes and seasons remain appointed within the Father’s ordering, even when their full measure is not known.

THE THREAD

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

Leviticus 23:2 · KJV

The same Hebrew word, ⁨מוֹעֵד⁩ (mo’ed, appointed time or meeting), underlies the “seasons” in Psalm 104:19 and the “feasts” in this verse. The moon marks recurring appointed times; Leviticus names those times as convocations, turning the sky’s rhythm into a calendar for meeting.

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