What Does Psalm 107:16 Mean in the King James?
For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
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
Deliverance reaches the structures that hold the way shut and dismantles them.
THE MEANING
The restraints around you can lose their hold at the point where they seem strongest. The verse pictures the gate shattered and its iron fastening cut away, making room for movement out of confinement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The barriers holding me are too strong to be removed.
THE ROOT
שִׁבֵּר
shibbēr
GROWS FROM
שבר
To break or shatter.
The Hebrew verb carries the force of shattering, and the same root describes a broken heart. Its branches connect the destruction of an outer barrier with the breaking that can happen within a person.
ALSO GROWS
nishbar: Broken or shattered.
נִשְׁבָּר
The same root describes the broken heart in Psalm 34:18, extending the image from a physical barrier to an inward state.
mishbar: Sea breakers or surf.
מִשְׁבָּר
This branch names waves that break against an obstacle, giving the root a forceful image of impact against what stands in the way.
גִּדֵּעַ
giddēaʿ
GROWS FROM
גדע
To cut down, sever, or hew off.
“cut in sunder” in this verse is giddēaʿ. This verb gives the verse a second image: the iron bars are hewn away at their fastening. Isaiah 45:2 uses the same root alongside שבר for the gates and bars, echoing this complete dismantling.
ALSO GROWS
gadaʿ: To cut down or sever.
גָּדַע
This root meaning shows the bars being removed by a decisive cut.
ʾagaddēaʿ: I will cut down or sever.
אֲגַדֵּעַ
Isaiah 45:2 uses this form for cutting the iron bars, repeating the same image of severed restraint.
THE PATTERN
Deliverance reaches confinement at the point where its restraints are enforced.
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:THE THREAD
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:Isaiah repeats the roots שבר (shavar, break or shatter) and גדע (gadaʿ, cut down or sever) with the same gates and iron bars. The shared wording reveals a paired action: the entrance and its fastening are both dismantled.
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