What Does Psalm 123:3 Mean in the King James?
Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
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 repeated plea for favor meets a people already filled to excess with contempt.
THE MEANING
The reader’s voice names contempt as something that has filled the shared “us” to excess, and turns toward the LORD with the same plea twice. Favor is asked for while the contempt is still present; the verse gives neither experience a smaller name.
THE ROOT
חָנֵּנוּ
ḥonnēnû
GROWS FROM
חנן
To show favor, to be gracious.
“have mercy” in this verse is ḥonnēnû. The repeated verb asks the LORD to turn favor toward “us.” Its repetition lets the plea persist alongside the contempt; the speakers do not have to conceal what fills them before asking.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēn: Favor.
חֵן
This related word makes the appeal sound like a request for favor directed toward the speakers.
ḥannûn: Gracious, favoring.
חַנּוּן
This form describes the quality the repeated plea calls upon amid the contempt.
שָׂבַעְנוּ
śāvaʿnû
GROWS FROM
שבע
To be sated or filled to capacity.
“filled” in this verse is śāvaʿnû. The verse pictures contempt as something the speakers have had their fill of. This language gives the pressure a measure: it has reached fullness, not merely touched them.
ALSO GROWS
śōvaʿ: Satiety, fullness.
שֹׂבַע
This noun echoes the image of contempt filling the speakers to capacity.
śāvēaʿ: Sated, full.
שָׂבֵעַ
This related form sharpens the verse’s image of being filled beyond what can be ignored.
THE PATTERN
A cry can name its need directly and approach for mercy while the need remains.
Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.THE THREAD
Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.Both verses use חנן (ḥ-n-n), the root of showing favor: here the plea repeats because contempt has filled the speakers; in Psalm 86:3 the same appeal rises as a daily cry. The shared root lets favor be heard as something sought within pressure, not apart from it.
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