What Does Psalm 112:1 Mean in the King James?
Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
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
Ashrei, translated “blessed,” names flourishing as the shape of a life where awe of the LORD and delight in his commands meet.
THE MEANING
This verse names flourishing as a life shaped by awe of the LORD and deep delight in the LORD’s commands. Its opening praise gives voice to that orientation: reverence and desire meet in the reader’s present relationship with God’s instruction.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that God’s commands can only be endured as burdens; here, the flourishing person delights in them greatly.
THE ROOT
אַשְׁרֵי
ashrei
GROWS FROM
אשר
ʾ-sh-r
To be happy or flourishing; to advance or prosper.
“Blessed” in this verse is ashrei. Ashrei is formally plural, often heard literally as “flourishings of”; a related verb means “to call happy.” Here, flourishing is a whole-life condition joined to awe of the LORD and delight in his commands.
ALSO GROWS
osher: Happiness, prosperity.
אֹשֶׁר
This noun makes explicit the flourishing carried in ashrei.
ishruni: They call me happy.
אִשְּׁרוּנִי
This related form shows the same root used to name someone as flourishing.
יָרֵא
yare
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“feareth” in this verse is yare. The same root names both the human stance of awe and what inspires awe. With the LORD as its object, “fear” opens onto reverence before a presence, shaping how the commands are received.
ALSO GROWS
yir’ah: Fear, reverence, awe.
יִרְאָה
This noun names the inward stance expressed by “feareth.”
nora: Awe-inspiring, fearsome.
נוֹרָא
This related form describes what evokes the awe named in the verse.
חָפֵץ
chafets
GROWS FROM
חפץ
ḥ-p-ṣ
To desire, take pleasure in, or delight.
“delighteth” in this verse is chafets. The verb directs desire toward the LORD’s commands; delight is part of the relationship itself. A related noun can name both pleasure and the thing desired, so the commands are held as something valued.
ALSO GROWS
chephets: Desire, delight, pleasure; the thing desired.
חֵפֶץ
This noun makes the link between delight and what is desired explicit.
Chephzibah: My delight is in her.
חֶפְצִי־בָהּ
This name phrase uses the same root to express delight resting in its beloved object.
THE PATTERN
Flourishing takes shape as divine instruction becomes the object of delight and the guide of lived attention.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.THE THREAD
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.Psalm 1:2 uses the same root, חפץ (ḥ-p-ṣ), for delight in the LORD’s law. That shared word makes the link precise: in both verses, flourishing is marked by desire turned toward God’s instruction.
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