What Does Psalm 14:5 Mean in the King James?

There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.

Psalm 14:5 · 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

“Great fear” carries a Hebrew doubling: they “feared a fear,” as dread overtakes those who prey on others when they meet God’s presence among the aligned.

THE MEANING

When people treat others as prey, this verse names a reality beneath the threat: God is present within the generation aligned with what is right. The exploiters’ confidence is not final; dread meets those who assume the vulnerable are unprotected.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Those who prey on the vulnerable can act without consequence, and the vulnerable stand alone.

THE ROOT

פָּחֲדוּ פַחַד

pāḥădû pāḥad

GROWS FROM

פחד

To dread or tremble with fear.

The Hebrew repeats the same root as verb and noun, literally, “they feared a fear”, giving dread the force of something they encounter. The KJV’s “great fear” carries its intensity; the repeated root also shows fear as the thing that overtakes them.

ALSO GROWS

pāḥad: Dread, terror; fear.

פָּחַד

The noun makes fear the thing they meet, not only a feeling within them.

pāḥădû: They feared.

פָּחֲדוּ

This verb shares its root with the noun that follows, intensifying the encounter with dread.

צַדִּיק

tsaddiq

GROWS FROM

צדק

Alignment, rightness, and justice.

This root family holds alignment and justice together: the righteous are people whose lives are oriented toward what is right. The verse locates God within their shared generation, making that alignment communal and present.

ALSO GROWS

tsedeq: Alignment, rightness.

צֶדֶק

It names the right ordering reflected in the lives of the righteous.

tsedaqah: Justice; right action.

צְדָקָה

It shows alignment taking form in how people are treated.

tsaddiq: An aligned or righteous person.

צַדִּיק

This is the word describing the people among whom God is present.

THE PATTERN

God’s presence within the aligned community turns the oppressor’s apparent security into dread and keeps hostile power from having the final word.

There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.

Psalm 53:5 · KJVThe parallel Psalm repeats the language of great fear and says God scatters the bones of the one who camps against the threatened.

The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28:1 · KJVThe wicked flee without a pursuer, while the righteous are described with a boldness that does not depend on visible safety.

But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

1 Peter 3:14 · KJVThe reader who suffers for alignment is described as flourishing, while hostile terror does not become the final truth about them.

THE THREAD

There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.

Psalm 53:5 · KJV

The same Hebrew root ⁨פחד⁩ (pāḥad, dread) appears as “they feared a fear” in both psalms, and Psalm 53 adds “where no fear was.” Together they show dread falling on aggressors who assume no consequence is present, because God is present and acts.

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