What Does Psalm 119:26 Mean in the King James?
I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
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 moves from recounting the road already walked to asking for instruction that can shape the road ahead.
THE MEANING
You speak your ways openly and are met with an answer. Being heard does not end the exchange; it opens into a request for instruction. The way ahead remains teachable, shaped by what you receive.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that being heard means you should already know the way: the speaker is answered and still asks to be taught.
THE ROOT
וַתַּעֲנֵנִי
vata'aneni
GROWS FROM
ענה
answer, respond
“heardest” in this verse is vata'aneni. The Hebrew verb carries the sense of answering or responding, giving the hearing here an active shape. The speaker is not merely audible; the verse presents a response to what has been spoken.
ALSO GROWS
ma'aneh: answer, response
מַעֲנֶה
This noun from the same root makes the answering quality explicit.
vayya'an: and he answered
וַיַּעַן
This verb form shows the same answering action as a response to another’s words.
סִפַּרְתִּי
sipparti
GROWS FROM
ספר
count, recount, relate
“declared” in this verse is sipparti. To declare your ways carries the sense of giving an account of them. The verse holds your path as something that can be recounted openly, then met with a response.
ALSO GROWS
sefer: book, record
סֵפֶר
A recounting and a written record grow from the same root, linking the spoken account of your ways with something made visible.
mispar: number, count
מִסְפָּר
The root’s sense of counting adds the texture of taking stock of the path you have walked.
חֻקֶּיךָ
chuqqekha
GROWS FROM
חקק
inscribe, engrave, establish by decree
The statutes requested here carry the root’s sense of something inscribed or established. After the speaker recounts their own ways, they ask for instruction with a form that can hold and shape the path ahead.
ALSO GROWS
choq: statute, decree
חֹק
This noun shares the root of the statutes in the verse, carrying the sense of established instruction.
mechoqeq: lawgiver, one who establishes a decree
מְחֹקֵק
This branch connects an established instruction with the act of setting it down.
THE PATTERN
Bringing your actual path or need into the open becomes the beginning of receiving response and direction.
Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.THE THREAD
Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.Both verses pair “ways,” דֶּרֶךְ (derek, way), with “teach,” לָמַד (lamad, learn or teach). Psalm 25 asks to be shown God’s ways; here, the speaker names their own ways first, making the request for instruction the next movement.
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