What Does Psalm 147:13 Mean in the King James?
For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.
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
God’s care makes the boundary firm and blesses the children already living within it.
THE MEANING
Your community’s boundaries are made firm, and the children in its midst are blessed. Safety at the edge and flourishing within belong to one field of care.
THE ROOT
חִזַּק
ḥizzaq
GROWS FROM
ח־ז־ק
ḥ-z-q
To be strong or firm; to strengthen, hold fast, or take hold.
“strengthened” in this verse is ḥizzaq. The root חזק (ḥ-z-q, be strong, strengthen, or hold fast) reaches from firmness to grasping hold. Here that strength firms the gate’s bars, while the next clause turns to the children within: protection at the edge and blessing inside are held together, though they use different roots.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: To be or become strong; to prevail.
חָזַק
This is the root’s basic sense of strength, echoed in the firm bars of the gates.
heḥĕziq: To hold fast or take hold.
הֶחֱזִיק
In Genesis 19:16, this form describes taking hold of hands; the same root can name both a firm boundary and a grasp that brings people out.
בֵּרַךְ
berakh
GROWS FROM
ב־ר־ך
b-r-k
To bless; the related word for knee carries an echo of bending.
“blessed” in this verse is berakh. The related word בֶּרֶךְ (berekh, knee) gives blessing a bodily echo of bending. The verse presents blessing as an act directed toward the children within the community, not merely a label attached to them.
ALSO GROWS
berakhah: Blessing.
בְּרָכָה
It keeps the verse’s active sense of blessing as something given.
berekh: Knee.
בֶּרֶךְ
The shared root letters bring the posture of a bent knee into the word’s background, giving blessing an embodied echo of regard.
בְּקִרְבֵּךְ
beqirbekh
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
q-r-b
To approach or draw near; the noun forms can mean the inner part or midst.
“within thee” in this verse is beqirbekh. The word for “within” belongs to a root family that also speaks of coming near. The children are blessed in the community’s own midst, where its life is held close.
ALSO GROWS
qerev: The inner part or midst.
קֶרֶב
This is the word family behind “within thee,” locating the children at the community’s center.
qarav: To approach or draw near.
קָרַב
Its shared root joins what is inside with the language of nearness.
THE PATTERN
God’s care holds a community’s outer safety and its vulnerable inner life together.
In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!THE THREAD
And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.The root חזק (ḥ-z-q, be strong, strengthen, or hold fast) appears here in the phrase “laid hold.” It names both the firmness set into the gates and the grip that takes hold of a household and brings them out.
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