What Does Psalm 109:22 Mean in the King James?

For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

Psalm 109:22 · 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

The Hebrew word rendered “wounded” carries the force of “pierced,” making the heart’s inward hurt concrete.

THE MEANING

Here, need reaches beyond what is missing around you into the heart within. The verse gives language to inward hurt and lets it stand plainly beside outward need.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the belief that need is only external; it names the heart as wounded within alongside poverty and need.

THE ROOT

חָלַל

ḥālal

GROWS FROM

חלל

ḥ-l-l

To bore or pierce; hence, to wound.

The word rendered “wounded” carries the force of being pierced. English can make the hurt sound general, but the Hebrew gives the heart’s inward injury the tactile force of something pierced within.

ALSO GROWS

ḥālāl: A pierced or slain person.

חָלָל

The same root can name someone marked by piercing, keeping the heart’s wound physical in its language.

ḥālîl: Flute or hollow pipe.

חָלִיל

This related word names a hollowed instrument, preserving the root’s image of an opening bored through something.

THE PATTERN

Scripture names inward distress alongside outward pressure, allowing both to be spoken plainly.

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Psalm 34:18 · KJVThis verse gives the broken heart its own place in the sentence, as Psalm 109 names a heart wounded within.

But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

Psalm 69:29 · KJVThe speaker places poverty and sorrow together, echoing this verse’s pairing of need with inward pain.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

2 Corinthians 4:8 · KJVTrouble on every side is named alongside perplexity, holding outward pressure and inward distress together.

THE THREAD

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨חלל⁩ (ḥ-l-l, to pierce or wound): Isaiah says he was wounded, while this psalm says the heart is wounded within. The shared root holds bodily piercing and inward injury in one image, making the heart’s pain concrete rather than abstract.

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