What Does Psalm 119:117 Mean in the King James?
Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
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
Being held up is what makes the gaze possible: the verse moves from sustaining, to deliverance, to continual regard.
THE MEANING
You are upheld, and that support carries you into deliverance; from there, your attention can remain turned toward what gives shape to your way. Continual regard is the lived result of being sustained, not a separate act of self-rescue.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that safety comes from standing alone: here, safety follows from being upheld.
THE ROOT
סְעָדֵנִי
seʿadeni
GROWS FROM
סעד
סעד (s-ʿ-d): support, sustain.
“Hold thou me up” in this verse is seʿadeni. English “hold up” can sound like temporary bracing, but this root carries the sense of being sustained. The verse places that sustaining beside deliverance and continual attention: the speaker’s steady regard grows from being supported.
ALSO GROWS
saʿad: Support, sustain.
סָעַד
This is the verb at the root of the plea: the speaker asks to be sustained.
seʿudah: A meal or feast; a later Hebrew noun from this consonantal family.
סְעוּדָה
The family’s sense of sustaining reaches nourishment too: support can come as what strengthens and sustains life.
וְאִוָּשֵׁעָה
ve’ivvasheʿah
GROWS FROM
ישע
ישע (y-š-ʿ): deliver, rescue; bring out from constriction.
English “safe” can sound like a static condition, while this Hebrew form names deliverance, being brought out. Beside the plea for support, safety is the movement that follows being sustained, from constriction toward room.
ALSO GROWS
yeshuʿah: Deliverance.
יְשׁוּעָה
The noun names the deliverance the speaker expects after being held up.
moshiaʿ: One who delivers; a deliverer.
מוֹשִׁיעַ
This branch names the one who brings another out, making deliverance relational rather than self-produced.
בְּחֻקֶּיךָ
beḥuqqekha
GROWS FROM
חקק
חקק (ḥ-q-q): cut, engrave, mark out; by extension, prescribe.
The word rendered “statutes” belongs to a root of engraving and marking out: what you keep regarding is a path inscribed, not a vague demand. Continual attention to what is marked gives direction to the life being upheld.
ALSO GROWS
ḥoq: A statute, decree, or prescribed portion.
חֹק
This noun shares the root’s sense of something marked out or set down.
ḥaquq: Engraved, inscribed.
חָקוּק
This form makes the root’s physical image visible: the statute is something marked into a surface.
THE PATTERN
Support from God meets vulnerability and carries it into steadiness and strength.
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.THE THREAD
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.Psalm 18:35 uses the same סעד (s-ʿ-d), “support, sustain,” root for being held up. The shared root makes “hold me up” more than balance: it is sustaining support, and here too it stands beside deliverance.
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