What Does Psalm 26:8 Mean in the King James?
LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
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 place is beloved because it holds the LORD’s weight: “honour” is kavod, weightiness.
THE MEANING
You love the dwelling of the LORD and the place where the LORD’s weight resides. The verse joins affection to presence: the One who dwells there makes the place dear.
THE ROOT
כְּבוֹדֶךָ
kevodekha
GROWS FROM
כבד
To be heavy or weighty.
English “honour” can sound like reputation or praise, while kavod carries the sense of weight. The verse pictures the LORD’s weight as dwelling somewhere the speaker loves.
ALSO GROWS
kaved: Heavy, weighty.
כָּבֵד
This adjective makes the concrete sense inside “honour” visible.
kibbed: To honor, treat as weighty.
כִּבֵּד
To honor someone is to give their weight its due; the same root links honor with weight.
מִשְׁכַּן
mishkan
GROWS FROM
שכן
To settle or dwell.
The word rendered “dwelleth” is mishkan, a dwelling or tabernacle, from shakan, “to dwell.” The line gives the LORD’s honor a dwelling; it is not left as an abstraction.
ALSO GROWS
shakhan: To dwell, settle.
שָׁכַן
This verb is the seed of the dwelling named in the verse.
mishkan: Dwelling, tabernacle.
מִשְׁכָּן
This noun names a place where dwelling becomes concrete.
מְקוֹם
meqom
GROWS FROM
קום
To stand or rise.
Maqom, “place,” comes from the root for standing or rising. Here, the place is defined by what dwells there: the LORD’s weight.
ALSO GROWS
qum: To stand, rise.
קוּם
The root gives “place” the sense of a standing or established location.
heqim: To raise, establish.
הֵקִים
This branch shows how the root can describe making something stand in place.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s dwelling is marked by divine presence, making it a place of love and reverence.
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.THE THREAD
Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.Psalm 26:8 joins the LORD’s kavod, “weight,” to a mishkan, “dwelling.” Exodus shows that same pairing in motion: the LORD’s glory fills the tabernacle.
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