What Does Psalm 18:32 Mean in the King James?
It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
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 wraps strength around you and brings wholeness to the path beneath your feet.
THE MEANING
God girds you with strength and makes your way whole. The verse presents strength as something given around you, while your path is brought toward completeness. Its words speak to the way you walk now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that you must produce all your own strength before your way can become whole.
THE ROOT
הַמְאַזְּרֵנִי
hamʾazreni
GROWS FROM
אזר
ʾ-z-r
To gird or fasten around, especially with a belt; to equip by binding something around the body.
“girdeth” in this verse is hamʾazreni. The root describes strength as something bound around the speaker. The verse presents capacity as received and encircling, rather than something the self must first produce.
ALSO GROWS
ʾezor: A band fastened around the body.
אֵזוֹר
The noun names the encircling object; the verse uses the related action to show strength girding the speaker.
meʾazzer: A form of the verb describing the act of girding.
מְאַזֵּר
This branch keeps the action active: someone is fastening support around the person.
תָּמִים
tamim
GROWS FROM
תמם
t-m-m
To be complete, whole, or brought to completion.
“perfect” in this verse is tamim. The root holds perfection as wholeness and soundness. Related forms name integrity and completion, so the verse speaks of the way itself being brought into wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
tom: A state of wholeness or integrity.
תֹּם
This branch shows the inward quality held in the verse’s description of a whole way.
tamam: To reach completion or be finished.
תָּמַם
This verbal branch connects the way’s wholeness with an action of bringing something to completion.
דַּרְכִּי
darki
GROWS FROM
דרך
d-r-kh
To tread or step; the noun develops the sense of a course made by walking.
The word translated “way” grows from the action of treading: a way is a track traced by steps. Paired with tamim, the verse describes wholeness in the course beneath the walker’s feet.
ALSO GROWS
derek: A route or course taken by walking.
דֶּרֶךְ
This noun is the direct family form behind “my way” in the verse.
darakh: To place the foot down or tread a path.
דָּרַךְ
The verb reveals the movement inside the noun: a way is a course made through steps.
THE PATTERN
God’s strength meets the walker on the path and brings the way toward wholeness.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.THE THREAD
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.Psalm 15 describes the person who walks with תָּמִים (tamim, wholeness or integrity), the same Hebrew word used here for the way God makes whole. The shared word connects the wholeness of the path with the wholeness of the walk.
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