What Does Psalm 11:7 Mean in the King James?
For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
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 LORD loves alignment and turns his gaze toward what stands straight.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s love is joined to alignment, and his face beholds the one who stands straight. Love and attention meet in the quality this verse names as righteousness and uprightness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that righteousness is only a demand imposed from outside: the LORD loves alignment itself and beholds the upright.
THE ROOT
צַדִּיק
tsaddiq
GROWS FROM
צדק
ts-d-q
To be right or just; to be in alignment.
“righteous / righteousness” in this verse is tsaddiq. English can make “righteous” and “upright” sound like separate moral labels. The roots bring them together as rightness and straightness, showing the LORD’s love and gaze converging on alignment.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Justice, rightness
צֶדֶק
This related form shows the right order contained in the verse’s language of righteousness.
tsedaqah: Righteousness, justice
צְדָקָה
The same root presents righteousness as right relation and action, not merely a label.
tsaddiq: Righteous, just
צַדִּיק
This form describes the LORD himself as aligned with the rightness he loves.
יָשָׁר
yashar
GROWS FROM
ישר
y-sh-r
To be straight, level, or right.
“Upright” carries the image of straightness: the verse pairs rightness with a life that stands straight. The LORD’s gaze rests on that visible alignment.
ALSO GROWS
yosher: Straightness, uprightness
יֹשֶׁר
This noun keeps the physical image of straightness inside the verse’s moral language.
meysharim: Uprightness, equity
מֵישָׁרִים
This related form joins straightness with fairness, echoing the alignment the LORD loves.
THE PATTERN
The LORD loves alignment and directs his regard toward those who pursue what is right.
He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.THE THREAD
He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.Both verses use the Hebrew root צדק (ts-d-q) for righteousness and אהב (ahav) for love. Psalm 33:5 extends that pairing to judgment and the goodness filling the earth.
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