What Does Psalm 119:21 Mean in the King James?
Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy 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
The verse calls their error a wandering: pride does not merely break the commandment; it loses the way.
THE MEANING
The verse names the proud as under rebuke and curse, straying from God’s commandments. Its Hebrew verb for “err” also means to wander, so the departure is a loss of direction, not merely a mistaken thought.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that pride proves a person is self-directed: here, the proud are shown wandering from the commandments.
THE ROOT
הַשֹּׁגִים
ha-shōgîm
GROWS FROM
שגה
To stray, wander, or go astray.
The word translated “err” is a verb of wandering. It makes departure from the commandments a loss of direction, and the same root can describe someone who causes another to wander.
ALSO GROWS
shāgāh: To stray or wander.
שָׁגָה
This is the verb’s base form: the verse’s error is movement away from a path.
mashgeh: One who causes another to wander.
מַשְׁגֶּה
This form appears in Deuteronomy 27:18, where someone leads a blind person astray, showing that straying can be caused as well as undergone.
גָּעַרְתָּ
gāʿartā
GROWS FROM
גער
To rebuke or denounce sharply.
“rebuked” in this verse is gāʿartā. This is a direct, forceful rebuke, not an unspoken judgment. The verse places that confrontation beside the proud person’s wandering, making the drift visible and named.
ALSO GROWS
gāʿar: To rebuke or denounce.
גָּעַר
The base verb carries the force of a direct confrontation.
geʿārāh: A rebuke or denunciation.
גְּעָרָה
The related noun names the rebuke itself, the spoken counterpoint to the proud person’s straying.
THE PATTERN
Pride places itself against divine order and meets scattering or collapse.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.THE THREAD
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.The same Hebrew root שגה appears in verse 21’s “err” and verse 10’s “wander.” One line asks not to stray from the commandments; the other names the proud as already straying, revealing the direction pride takes.
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