What Does Psalm 107:32 Mean in the King James?

Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

Psalm 107:32 · 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

Praise fills two distinct public spaces here: the people’s gathered qahal and the elders’ seated moshav.

THE MEANING

Your praise has a place in the shared life of a people and in the elders’ gathered space. The verse lets the same recognition rise through both a broad congregation and a seated assembly.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that praise belongs only in private is undone here: this verse gives it a place among the people and their elders.

THE ROOT

מוֹשַׁב

moshav

GROWS FROM

ישב

yashav

to sit, remain, or dwell

The elders’ assembly is a moshav, a seated gathering, from yashav, “to sit, dwell.” This gives the second half a settled, communal texture alongside the people’s broader congregation.

ALSO GROWS

yashav: sit, dwell

יָשַׁב

The elders’ moshav is a sitting assembly, so praise has a place where people take their seats together.

hoshiv: seat, cause to sit

הוֹשִׁיב

This causative branch echoes the seated quality of the elders’ gathering.

קְהַל

qehāl

GROWS FROM

קהל

qahal

to assemble or gather

The people’s congregation is a qahal, a gathering brought together. English can make this and the elders’ assembly sound like repetition, while Hebrew gives the two clauses different gathering-words; praise crosses both spaces.

ALSO GROWS

qahal: assembly, congregation

קָהָל

This is the gathered body named in the verse before the elders’ separate moshav.

hiqhil: assemble, gather

הִקְהִיל

This verb makes the congregation an act of bringing people together, not just a place.

יְהַלְלוּהוּ

yehalleluhu

GROWS FROM

הלל

halal

to praise

The praise here belongs to the same Hebrew family as tehillah and hallelu-yah. The root connects the act of praising him with other words that name praise and the call to praise Yah.

ALSO GROWS

tehillah: praise, song of praise

תְּהִלָּה

This noun from the same root shows praise as a named expression shared among the gathered people.

hallelu-yah: Praise Yah

הַלְלוּיָהּ

This familiar call to praise carries the same root heard in “praise him” in the verse.

THE PATTERN

Praise gives shared recognition a public place among gathered people.

Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

Psalm 111:1 · KJVPraise is voiced within both an assembly and a congregation, echoing the verse’s two public spaces.

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

Acts 4:24 · KJVA gathered community gives its recognition of God a shared voice.

And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

Revelation 7:10 · KJVA multitude voices praise together, making recognition of God public across the gathered people.

THE THREAD

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Psalm 22:22 · KJV

Psalm 22:22 uses the same Hebrew roots for congregation (qahal) and praise (halal), so the public setting in Psalm 107 is a recurring pair. It places praise in the midst of a gathered people, where recognition becomes shared speech.

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