What Does Psalm 136:20 Mean in the King James?

And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:

Psalm 136:20 · KJV

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 Og’s defeat beside the refrain of enduring faithful love, leaving the violence and the claim of goodness together in view.

THE MEANING

The verse names Og, king of Bashan, and places the refrain of God’s faithful love directly after him. Read now, the line leaves the violent setting and its claim of enduring love side by side, without explaining the tension away.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This verse undoes the assumption that the language of faithful love appears only beside gentle events: its refrain follows the naming of a defeated king.

THE ROOT

חֶסֶד

ḥesed

GROWS FROM

ח־ס־ד

ḥ-s-d

To show loyal kindness; steadfast care within a relationship.

The English “mercy” can carry compassion, while ⁨חֶסֶד⁩ (ḥesed, faithful love) also carries loyalty held over time. Here that quality is named beside Og’s defeat, reaching into the verse’s violent setting.

ALSO GROWS

ḥāsad: To show loyal kindness.

חָסַד

This verb expresses the root as an action, giving the refrain a sense of continuing relational care rather than a passing feeling.

ḥāsîd: Faithful, loyal one.

חָסִיד

This related word describes someone by the same quality of loyalty that the refrain says endures.

THE PATTERN

Faithful love is described as reaching beyond a single moment into generations and ages.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 100:5 · KJVThe verse describes the LORD’s mercy as everlasting and his truth as reaching through every generation.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

1 Chronicles 16:34 · KJVThe same refrain names faithful love as enduring beyond the moment of praise.

And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

Luke 1:50 · KJVHere the reach of mercy is expressed across generations.

THE THREAD

Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:

Psalm 136:23 · KJV

The same refrain that follows the naming of Og also follows the line about God remembering us in our low estate. ⁨חֶסֶד⁩ (ḥesed, faithful love) binds the defeat of a king and remembrance of the diminished within one refrain, without making the first gentle.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us