What Does Psalm 126:5 Mean in the King James?
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
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 makes tears part of the sowing, so grief marks a season of growth rather than proof that nothing is growing.
THE MEANING
Your tears do not put you outside the harvest: the verse holds your present grief and coming joy in one movement. What is sown through weeping is gathered into an audible cry of joy.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Tears mean the work is wasted and nothing good can grow from this season.
THE ROOT
הַזֹּרְעִים
ha-zōreʿim
GROWS FROM
זרע
z-r-ʿ
To sow or scatter seed.
“sow” in this verse is ha-zōreʿim. The verse calls grief-marked action sowing: tears do not describe a canceled harvest but the conditions of this planting. The same root’s noun means both seed and offspring, holding a hidden future inside what is placed in the ground.
ALSO GROWS
zeraʿ: Seed.
זֶרַע
The seed is what the sower places in the ground, even while tears fall.
zeraʿ: Offspring, descendants.
זֶרַע
The same word can name what grows from a seed, linking the act of sowing with the future it carries.
רִנָּה
rinnah
GROWS FROM
רנן
r-n-n
To ring out, cry aloud, or sing for joy.
The word translated “joy” points to an audible cry, not only an inward feeling. The harvest has a voice: the sowing through grief gives way to rejoicing that can be heard.
ALSO GROWS
rānan: To sing or shout aloud.
רָנַן
This verbal form shows the sound carried inside the verse’s word for joy.
renānāh: A ringing cry or exultation.
רְנָנָה
This related noun keeps the sense of joy as an expression that breaks into sound.
THE PATTERN
Grief can mark the sowing season while joy arrives as the harvest.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.THE THREAD
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.The next verse repeats the same sowing and reaping movement, making the seed and its harvest visible. The tears remain in the scene, yet the sower returns with rejoicing and sheaves.
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