What Does Psalm 136:6 Mean in the King James?

To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalm 136:6 · 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 earth is described with the same root as the expanse above the waters: what gives you footing is a world spread open and held by faithful love.

THE MEANING

Your ground is pictured as spread above the waters, with room to stand where they might otherwise cover everything. Its place is held within faithful love that endures through every age.

THE ROOT

רֹקַע

rōqaʿ

GROWS FROM

ר־ק־ע

r-q-ʿ

To beat out, spread, or extend into a surface.

“stretched out” in this verse is rōqaʿ. This same root names the expanse set among the waters and describes metal being beaten out into plates. The verse pictures the earth as a world spread open above the waters, giving ground and space to stand.

ALSO GROWS

rāqîaʿ: Expanse, firmament

רָקִיעַ

Genesis uses this related word for the expanse placed amid the waters, revealing the shared image of space spread out over them.

riqqeʿum: They beat them out into plates (Numbers 17:3)

רִקְּעוּם

This form shows the root’s concrete sense: a surface is extended by beating it out.

THE PATTERN

A livable world takes shape as waters are bounded and ground is given room.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

Genesis 1:9 · KJVThe dry ground appears as the waters are gathered into bounds.

And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

Job 38:11 · KJVThe sea is given a limit so its waves do not cover the space beyond it.

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

2 Peter 3:5 · KJVThe verse describes the earth as standing in relation to the waters that surround it.

THE THREAD

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Genesis 1:6 · KJV

The word translated “firmament” comes from the same root as “stretched out” here. Read together, the verses show space and ground taking shape as the waters are ordered.

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