What Does Psalm 147:19 Mean in the King James?
He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
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 word for “word” can also mean “matter” or “thing,” so what God reveals carries substance and takes shape in statutes and judgments.
THE MEANING
You are addressed by a God who makes his word known; his way is not held behind silence. His statutes give that word shape, and his judgments bring discernment to what you face now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the belief that God’s way is hidden from you and must be guessed at: it presents his instruction as disclosed.
THE ROOT
דְּבָרָיו
dəvārāw
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; the related noun names a word, matter, or thing.
The same Hebrew word can name speech and a matter or thing. Here, what God makes known is not detached sound: it carries substance that takes shape in instruction and judgment.
ALSO GROWS
dābār: Word; matter or thing
דָּבָר
It holds speech and substance together, deepening what it means for God’s word to be made known.
dibbēr: Spoke; declared
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form shows the movement from word as substance to word as something spoken and communicated.
חֻקָּיו
ḥuqqāw
GROWS FROM
חקק
To cut or inscribe; by extension, to prescribe or decree.
The word for statutes is connected with inscribing and prescribing. God’s disclosed instruction therefore has a durable shape, like a form marked into what would otherwise remain open.
ALSO GROWS
ḥōq: Statute; prescribed portion or limit
חֹק
It shows how instruction can give a defined contour to the word made known.
ḥōqēq: One who inscribes or decrees; lawgiver
חֹקֵק
This related form carries the image of a decree being marked into shape.
מִשְׁפָּטָיו
mišpāṭāw
GROWS FROM
שפט
To judge, decide, or govern.
The root keeps the active work of discernment inside “judgments”: deciding what is fitting, not only announcing a verdict. Beside statutes, it presents the revealed word as both shaped instruction and discernment.
ALSO GROWS
shāphaṭ: To judge or decide
שָׁפַט
It names the act of discerning that stands behind the judgments made known here.
shōphēṭ: Judge or ruler
שֹׁפֵט
It shows how judgment also carries the work of governance, bringing order to what is being discerned.
THE PATTERN
God makes instruction known so it can orient life rather than remain hidden.
For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.THE THREAD
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.Both verses use דָּבָר (dābār: word, matter): here the word is made known, and there it becomes light for the path. Disclosure becomes illumination for the way in front of you.
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