What Does Psalm 135:14 Mean in the King James?
For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.
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 Hebrew word rendered “repent” also carries the sense of comfort, holding the LORD’s judgment and his compassionate turn toward his servants together.
THE MEANING
The LORD judges his people and turns toward his servants with compassion. For the reader, being judged does not mean being abandoned or beyond comfort.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that God’s judgment means he has turned against those who belong to him: the verse holds judgment and care for his servants in the same sentence.
THE ROOT
יִתְנַחֵם
yitnaḥēm
GROWS FROM
נחם
To comfort or console; in forms used here, to relent or be moved to compassion.
“repent himself” in this verse is yitnaḥēm. English separates this root into “comfort” and “repent” or “relent,” while Hebrew keeps them within the same word family. Here, the LORD’s response after judgment carries the same root that can speak of comfort.
ALSO GROWS
naḥamû: Comfort, console.
נַחֲמוּ
The same root can describe comfort offered to the LORD’s people, revealing a thread between his response and their relief.
wayyinnāḥem: Relented, was moved to compassion.
וַיִּנָּחֶם
This form appears in Exodus 32:14, where the LORD relents concerning his people, echoing the movement in this verse.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s judgment does not erase his compassion toward those who belong to him.
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.THE THREAD
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.The verb translated “repented” comes from the same נחם (naḥam) root as “repent himself” in Psalm 135:14. In both verses, the root describes the LORD relenting concerning his people, while its other uses carry the sense of comfort.
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