What Does Psalm 111:7 Mean in the King James?
The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.
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 root behind “sure” also forms אָמֵן (ʾāmēn, “Amen; firm; so be it”), placing God’s commandments in the language of what is steady enough to affirm.
THE MEANING
You are met by God’s work as truth and just judgment, while his commandments are steady and dependable. His action and direction belong together: what his hands do bears the same reliability as what he commands.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
That God’s commands are arbitrary or unreliable; the verse presents them as firm, alongside work marked by truth and judgment.
THE ROOT
נֶאֱמָנִים
ne’emanim
GROWS FROM
אמן
To be firm, reliable, or steady.
The Hebrew carries firmness and dependability beneath “sure.” Its word family includes trust and Amen, so the commandments are described as something steady enough to rely on.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāmēn: Amen; firm, trustworthy; so be it.
אָמֵן
The root remains audible in a spoken affirmation: what is affirmed is held as reliable.
ʾemunah: Trust; leaning one’s full weight on what is dependable.
אֱמוּנָה
The verse’s sure commandments belong to the same word family as trust grounded in reliability.
פִּקּוּדָיו
piqqudav
GROWS FROM
פקד
To attend to, appoint, or oversee.
The word rendered “commandments” belongs to a family built around attending to, appointing, and overseeing. It carries the shade of an entrusted charge; paired with “sure,” the verse presents what is appointed as dependable.
ALSO GROWS
paqad: To attend to, appoint, muster, or visit.
פָּקַד
The root can describe both attention given and a charge assigned, illuminating the character of these commandments.
pequddah: Appointment, charge, or oversight.
פְּקֻדָּה
This branch gives the commandments the sense of an entrusted charge within an ordered care.
THE PATTERN
What God sets in motion and what God speaks remain dependable, joined to truth and right judgment.
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.THE THREAD
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.Psalm 19 uses the same Hebrew root for “sure” to describe the LORD’s testimony. The shared seed connects the firmness of the commandments here with the reliability of the testimony there.
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