What Does Psalm 18:37 Mean in the King James?
I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
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 chase-verb here also describes goodness pursuing the speaker elsewhere: what is pursued gives the pursuit its character.
THE MEANING
You hear the speaker’s unbroken pursuit: he overtakes his enemies and does not turn back until they are consumed. Their destruction is the stated endpoint of this violence.
THE ROOT
אֶרְדּוֹף
ʾerdōf
GROWS FROM
ר־ד־ף
r-d-p
Pursue, chase, press after.
“pursued” in this verse is ʾerdōf. The verb comes from רדף (radaf, “pursue” or “chase”). Psalm 23:6 uses this same root when goodness and mercy “shall follow” the speaker; the action stays a chase, while its object changes.
ALSO GROWS
radaf: Pursue, chase.
רָדַף
This verb names the speaker’s direct pursuit of his enemies.
rodef: A pursuer, one who chases.
רֹדֵף
The same root can name the one doing the pursuing, a role Psalm 23:6 gives to goodness and mercy.
אָשׁוּב
ʾāshuv
GROWS FROM
ש־ו־ב
sh-w-b
Turn, return, come back.
“turn again” in this verse is ʾāshuv. The speaker says he does not return or turn back before the enemies reach their end. Elsewhere this root can describe bringing something back or restoring it, so here the return is withheld until the pursuit is complete.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Turn, return.
שׁוּב
This is the root’s basic movement, named here as the direction the speaker refuses to reverse.
heshiv: Bring back, restore.
הֵשִׁיב
The causative form carries the sense of returning something; this verse instead holds the speaker’s return until the conflict reaches its end.
כַּלּוֹתָם
kallotam
GROWS FROM
כ־ל־ה
k-l-h
Finish, complete, come to an end; in this context, be consumed.
“consumed” in this verse is kallotam. The verse’s endpoint comes from the root of finishing or reaching an end, carrying completion together with destruction. The pursuit continues until the enemies themselves reach that end.
ALSO GROWS
kalah: Finish, complete, come to an end.
כָּלָה
It reveals the endpoint inside “consumed”: the pursuit lasts until the enemies’ ending is complete.
kilyon: Destruction, wasting away.
כִּלָּיוֹן
This related noun carries the destructive force that the verb takes on in this verse.
THE PATTERN
Scriptural pursuit takes its direction from its object and moves toward an end shaped by that object.
And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:THE THREAD
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.Both verses use רדף (radaf, “pursue” or “chase”). Psalm 18:37 places the speaker in pursuit of enemies; Psalm 23:6 gives that pursuing action to goodness and mercy moving toward the speaker.
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