What Does Psalm 122:1 Mean in the King James?
A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
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 joy begins before arrival: it ignites when the shared invitation to move toward God’s dwelling is spoken.
THE MEANING
The invitation to God’s dwelling already makes you glad before you arrive; joy begins while the way is opening. The words are plural, “let us go”, so the approach is shared.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Joy must wait until I reach the sacred place.
THE ROOT
נֵלֵךְ
nelekh
GROWS FROM
הלך
to go, walk
נֵלֵךְ (nelekh, “let us go”) names a shared movement, not an arrival. The same root also names walking, so the invitation opens onto a path rather than only a destination.
ALSO GROWS
holekh: one who goes or walks
הוֹלֵךְ
The invitation’s movement belongs to people walking toward the house together.
halikhah: walking, going
הֲלִיכָה
This branch makes the approach a journey in motion, already begun when the invitation is heard.
שָׂמַחְתִּי
samachti
GROWS FROM
שמח
to rejoice, be glad
שָׂמַחְתִּי (samachti, “I rejoiced”) places joy at the moment the invitation is heard, before the journey is complete. Its root family includes both joy itself and the act of making someone glad, so another person’s words can stir the joy in this verse.
ALSO GROWS
simchah: joy, gladness
שִׂמְחָה
The noun shares the root of the speaker’s glad response.
mesameach: one who makes glad
מְשַׂמֵּחַ
It echoes how the invitation spoken by others becomes the occasion for joy.
THE PATTERN
The movement toward God’s dwelling becomes a shared path, carried by invitation, gathering, and delight.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.THE THREAD
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.Psalm’s נֵלֵךְ (nelekh, “let us go”) and Isaiah’s וְנֵלְכָה (venelekhah, “and let us walk”) share הָלַךְ (halakh, “to go, walk”). The invitation toward the LORD’s house opens into a shared path, not only a one-time arrival.
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