What Does Psalm 108:7 Mean in the King James?
God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
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
Here, division is the giving of a measured share: what God speaks from set-apartness takes a definite shape.
THE MEANING
God speaks from what is set apart, then names joy, allotment, and measure. The verse meets the reader now with a wholeness that has shape: a share can be distinct and bounded without being abandoned.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that division must mean loss: here, dividing is the act of assigning a share with measure.
THE ROOT
אֲחַלְּקָה
ʾaḥalləqāh
GROWS FROM
חלק
ḥ-l-q
To divide, apportion, or assign a share.
“divide” in this verse is ʾaḥalləqāh. This root can describe division and the portion that results from it. Beside the measured action that follows, the dividing here reads as allotment: land receives a defined share.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēleq: Share, portion
חֵלֶק
This branch makes the result of dividing explicit: a share is set apart for someone.
ḥelqāh: Plot, parcel of land
חֶלְקָה
A divided share can be a specific tract, fitting the verse’s named places.
בְּקָדְשׁוֹ
bəqodšô
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
To set apart, make distinct for a purpose.
“holiness” in this verse is bəqodšô. The speech comes from what is set apart, and its outcome is also distinct: particular places receive particular measures. Set-apartness gives the allotment its source and character.
ALSO GROWS
qōdeš: Set-apartness, holiness
קֹדֶשׁ
This is the noun behind the phrase ‘in his holiness,’ naming the distinct source of the speech.
miqdāš: Sanctuary, set-apart place
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary is a place marked as distinct, echoing the verse’s movement from set-apart speech to places with defined portions.
אֲמַדֵּד
ʾămadēd
GROWS FROM
מדד
m-d-d
To measure.
“mete out” in this verse is ʾămadēd. This verb makes the allotment precise: the valley is measured out, not left as an undefined expanse. The verse pairs sharing with extent, giving the portion edges.
ALSO GROWS
middāh: Measure, dimension
מִדָּה
A measure gives the share its extent.
medidāh: Measuring, measurement
מְדִידָה
This branch names the act that marks out a place’s limits.
THE PATTERN
God’s ordering makes shared reality concrete by assigning distinct portions and measures.
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.THE THREAD
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.The Hebrew שְׁכֶם (shekhem) means “shoulder” and is used here for “portion”; it is also the name Shechem in the Psalm. That shared word lets the place echo an allotted share: the land itself sounds like something apportioned.
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