What Does Psalm 119:39 Mean in the King James?
Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
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 places the feared reproach in motion: it can pass away because the LORD’s judgments are good.
THE MEANING
You bring the reproach you fear before the LORD, whose judgments are good. The verse names your fear without making it your final verdict: the reproach can pass away.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that the reproach you fear must remain over you as the truest verdict about you.
THE ROOT
הַעֲבֵר
haʿavēr
GROWS FROM
עבר
ʿavar
To pass over or cross; in this form, to cause something to pass.
“Turn away” in this verse is haʿavēr. The Hebrew asks for the reproach to be made to pass away. It gives the feared shame movement: it is not fixed in place as the final word over you.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāvar: Pass or cross
עָבַר
The basic verb makes the movement in “turn away” visible: something passes from one side to another.
maʿavār: Passage or crossing
מַעֲבָר
This noun from the same root evokes a way across, deepening the sense that reproach can be passed beyond.
מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ
mishpāṭeḵā
GROWS FROM
שפט
shāphaṭ
To judge, decide, or administer justice.
The word for “judgments” belongs to the same root as the one who judges. The verse rests its plea on the character of that judging: it is good, not a verdict that traps you in reproach.
ALSO GROWS
shōphēṭ: Judge
שֹׁפֵט
The judge is the one who carries out the act named by the root.
mishpāṭ: Judgment or justice
מִשְׁפָּט
This is the judgment itself, the word whose goodness grounds the prayer.
טוֹבִים
ṭōvīm
GROWS FROM
טוב
ṭōv
Good, beneficial, or pleasing.
“Good” here describes the judgments on which the plea depends. The root also forms a verb for doing good, so goodness can be heard as active benefit, not only a favorable label.
ALSO GROWS
ṭōvāh: Goodness or benefit
טוֹבָה
This noun from the same root names the quality the verse ascribes to the LORD’s judgments.
hēṭīv: Do good or benefit
הֵיטִיב
This verb gives the root an active sense: goodness can be expressed through what is done.
THE PATTERN
A feared shame can be named without becoming the final verdict over the person who trusts in God.
O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.THE THREAD
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.The Hebrew behind “turn away” and “passeth by” comes from עבר (ʿavar, pass or cross). Psalm 119 asks for feared reproach to pass away; Micah uses the same root as it speaks of transgression being passed by.
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