What Does Psalm 15:3 Mean in the King James?
He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
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
A reproach is a load: the verse describes a life that does not lift it and carry it against a neighbor.
THE MEANING
The reader’s speech does not travel as slander, harm is not done, and a neighbor’s reproach is not carried forward. Integrity includes refusing to turn another person’s disgrace into something held and repeated.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A reproach is harmless when it is only repeated, not originated.
THE ROOT
נָשָׂא
nasa
GROWS FROM
נשא
nasa
To lift, carry, or bear.
“taketh up” in this verse is nasa. The verb for taking up a reproach also means lifting and carrying a load. The verse presents accusation as something a person can take on and bear against a neighbor.
ALSO GROWS
massa: A load or burden.
מַשָּׂא
This branch makes the image concrete: a reproach can be borne like a weight.
nose: One who lifts or carries; a bearer.
נֹשֵׂא
This branch shows the person who takes up the charge as its carrier.
רָגַל
ragal
GROWS FROM
רגל
ragal
To go about on foot; by extension, to go about as a talebearer.
The word rendered “backbiteth” connects slander with going about. English can make the harm sound like a single utterance, while the Hebrew also evokes speech that travels from person to person.
ALSO GROWS
regel: A foot.
רֶגֶל
This noun shares the root’s image of movement on foot.
meraggel: A scout or spy.
מְרַגֵּל
This branch carries the sense of someone who goes about, echoing how slander circulates.
THE PATTERN
A neighbor’s dignity is protected when harmful speech is neither circulated, enacted, nor carried as a charge.
Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.THE THREAD
Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.The Hebrew verbs for “raise” in Exodus and “taketh up” in this verse share נשא (nasa, “lift or carry”). Exodus names the report as something carried; Psalm 15:3 applies that same image to reproach against a neighbor.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us