What Does Psalm 106:5 Mean in the King James?

That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

Psalm 106:5 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The same Hebrew root names both “rejoice” and “gladness,” locating personal joy inside a people’s shared joy.

THE MEANING

You ask to see the good among God’s chosen, enter the joy of the people, and praise alongside God’s inheritance. Seeing, rejoicing, and praising are all relational here: the good is shared, and joy lives within belonging.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that another’s share in God’s good leaves you with less: the verse joins your joy to the nation’s gladness.

THE ROOT

לִשְׂמֹחַ

lismoaḥ

GROWS FROM

שמח

ś-m-ḥ

To rejoice, be glad; in a causative form, to make glad.

“rejoice / gladness” in this verse is lismoaḥ. The verb ⁨לִשְׂמֹחַ⁩ (lismoaḥ, to rejoice) and the noun ⁨שִׂמְחַת⁩ (simḥat, gladness of) come from the same root, so the verse doubles one movement: rejoicing in the people’s gladness. English gives them separate words, while Hebrew holds the action and the shared joy in one family.

ALSO GROWS

sameaḥ: Glad, joyful

שָׂמֵחַ

This adjective names the state of gladness carried by the same root as “rejoice.”

simḥah: Gladness, joy

שִׂמְחָה

This noun shares the root of both key words, making the verse’s joy a common thread rather than a private feeling.

simmēaḥ: Make glad

שִׂמֵּחַ

This causative form shows the root can describe joy passing from one person to another, fitting the verse’s shared gladness.

THE PATTERN

Joy takes shape as participation in the good and gladness of a people.

Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.

Psalm 122:9 · KJVThe speaker seeks the good of the whole community gathered around God’s house.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Romans 12:15 · KJVJoy is shared by entering another person’s rejoicing.

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

1 Corinthians 12:26 · KJVThe members share one another’s sorrow and honor, so one person’s joy becomes the body’s joy.

THE THREAD

The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

Psalm 126:3 · KJV

The word rendered “glad” comes from the same Hebrew root, ⁨שמח⁩ (ś-m-ḥ, to rejoice and be glad), that supplies both “rejoice” and “gladness” in Psalm 106:5. Psalm 126’s “for us” and “we” make explicit what the repeated root holds together: joy shared within a people.

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