What Does Psalm 141:4 Mean in the King James?
Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
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 calls their dainties “their pleasant things,” revealing how pleasure can draw the heart toward shared wrongdoing.
THE MEANING
Your heart can be drawn toward harm through the company you share and the pleasures that come with it. This prayer holds together the inward turn, the actions it feeds, and the pleasant reward it accepts.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that you can share in the pleasures of people who practice harm while your own heart remains untouched by their direction.
THE ROOT
מַנְעַמֵּיהֶם
man‘ammêhem
GROWS FROM
נעם
To be pleasant or delightful.
The word translated “dainties” is built from the root for pleasantness: these are their pleasant things. The verse names the appeal alongside the wrongdoing, showing how what feels good can draw the heart toward the company and its practices.
ALSO GROWS
no‘am: Pleasantness, delight, or beauty.
נֹעַם
It makes clear that the root names an attractive quality; here that pleasantness belongs to what the prayer refuses to share.
na‘im: Pleasant or delightful.
נָעִים
This adjective shows the same seed in a description of what feels agreeable, clarifying the appeal carried by “their dainties.”
תַּט
taṭ
GROWS FROM
נטה
To stretch, extend, bend, or turn.
“incline” in this verse is taṭ. The prayer pictures the heart as capable of being turned in a direction; evil is not only named as an idea, but as a tilt that can lead into practice. The same root can describe stretching something outward, showing how an inward bend can become an outward reach.
ALSO GROWS
netiyyah: An inclination or turning aside.
נְטִיָּה
This noun makes explicit that the root can name a direction-taking, illuminating the prayer’s concern about where the heart is angled.
matteh: A staff, rod, or tribe.
מַטֶּה
The word’s association with an extended staff or branch echoes the root’s sense of extension and gives the heart’s inclination a sense of movement outward.
THE PATTERN
A heart’s direction is shaped by the company it joins and the pleasures it accepts.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.THE THREAD
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.This verse repeats the same Hebrew verb for “incline” and the same image of the heart, but asks for its direction toward God’s testimonies. Together, the two prayers reveal that the heart’s orientation is central: it can turn toward harmful company or toward instruction.
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