What Does Psalm 104:35 Mean in the King James?
Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
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 closing “Praise ye the LORD” is Hebrew’s Hallelujah, so the wish for the wicked’s end flows straight into a cry of praise.
THE MEANING
The verse voices a stark wish: that sinners be finished from the earth and the wicked be no more. The living soul blesses the LORD, and the Hebrew closes with “Hallelujah”, praise Yah. The ending of wickedness and praise stand together in the verse’s present voice.
THE ROOT
יִתַּמּוּ
yittammu
GROWS FROM
תמם
t-m-m
to be complete, be finished, come to an end
The verb carries the sense of coming to an end: the sinners are to be finished from the earth. This same root can describe what is complete or whole, adding a stark resonance to “consumed” without softening its force.
ALSO GROWS
tamim: complete, whole
תָּמִים
The same seed can describe wholeness; here its verbal form marks an ending.
tom: integrity, completeness
תֹּם
This branch keeps the root’s sense of completion visible beneath the KJV word “consumed.”
חַטָּאִים
chatta'im
GROWS FROM
חטא
ḥ-ṭ-ʾ
to miss, err, go wrong
The word still names sinners; its root also carries the sense of missing or going wrong. That seed makes the line’s “sinners” more particular: those named by their missing are the ones the prayer wishes to be no more.
ALSO GROWS
chet: missing, missing the mark
חֵטְא
This noun keeps the root’s sense of missing visible in the word-family behind “sinners.”
chatta't: sin, offense; also an offering for sin
חַטָּאת
The word-family includes both the missing and an offering associated with it, showing how much this root gathers beneath the English word “sin.”
הַלְלוּ־יָהּ
hallelu-yah
GROWS FROM
הלל
h-l-l
to praise, acclaim
The final Hebrew cry is “Hallelu-yah”: praise Yah. The KJV opens that compact phrase into “Praise ye the LORD,” while the Hebrew lets the psalm end with the direct shout itself.
ALSO GROWS
hallelu: praise!
הַלְלוּ
This is the praise command contained in the verse’s final cry.
tehillah: praise, song of praise
תְּהִלָּה
This related noun shows the same root extending from the act of praising into praise as a song.
THE PATTERN
Scripture places the ending of wickedness beside confidence, gladness, and praise.
For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:THE THREAD
How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.“Consumed” here is תַּמּוּ (tammu), from the same root תמם (tamam) as יִתַּמּוּ in Psalm 104:35. The shared root means “come to an end”; here that ending arrives “as in a moment” and “with terrors.”
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