What Does Psalm 136:24 Mean in the King James?
And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
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 word for “enemies” also carries the sense of being pressed in, so this verse describes deliverance as release from constriction.
THE MEANING
You are brought out from the grip of what opposes and constricts you. The LORD’s faithful love endures through every age; your release is held within care that does not expire.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The forces opposing you do not have the final claim on your life: you are brought out, and faithful love endures.
THE ROOT
צָרֵינוּ
tsareinu
GROWS FROM
צרר
ts-r-r
To bind, press in, or bring distress.
The word translated “enemies” belongs to a word-family that also carries the sense of narrowness and distress. The verse’s release is movement out from under what presses in.
ALSO GROWS
tsar: Narrow, tight; also an adversary or oppressor.
צַר
It gathers the enemy and the feeling of being hemmed in under one word-family.
tsarah: Distress, trouble, adversity.
צָרָה
The pressure caused by an adversary and the distress it creates share this root’s sound and sense.
וַיִּפְרְקֵנוּ
vayifreqenu
GROWS FROM
פרק
p-r-q
To break off, tear away, or free from what is attached or gripping.
The verb translated “redeemed” can carry the image of something being broken loose. Scripture uses this root for breaking a yoke off a neck and stripping off earrings: here, the constricting hold is removed.
ALSO GROWS
upara'qta: “You shall break off” (Genesis 27:40).
וּפָרַקְתָּ
The same root pictures a yoke being broken from the neck, an image of release from an imposed burden.
wayyitparqu: “They broke off” or “stripped off” (Exodus 32:3).
וַיִּתְפָּרְקוּ
The root also describes detaching what is fastened on, giving “redeemed” a concrete sense of being freed from a hold.
חַסְדּוֹ
chasdo
GROWS FROM
חסד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful, steadfast kindness expressed through loyal care.
“mercy” in this verse is chasdo. The verse grounds release in enduring faithful love. This love is not a passing feeling: it is steady care that remains through every age.
ALSO GROWS
chesed: Faithful love, steadfast kindness.
חֶסֶד
This is the love named in the verse, enduring as the ground beneath its deliverance.
chasid: A faithful or devoted person; often rendered “godly” or “saint.”
חָסִיד
The related word describes a person by their devotion, echoing the loyalty carried by chesed.
THE PATTERN
The LORD brings people out of constriction, and enduring faithful love holds that release.
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;THE THREAD
Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.“Trouble” here uses the same tsar word-family that names the “enemies” in Psalm 136:24: both adversary and adversity carry the sense of being pressed in. Psalm 136 names the release; Psalm 107 lets you feel the constriction from within and then the way out.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us