What Does Psalm 28:2 Mean in the King James?
Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
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 word “supplications” grows from the same root as “gracious”: this cry is already a plea for favor.
THE MEANING
Your prayer here has a voice and a posture: you cry out and lift your hands toward God’s holy place. Even the word “supplications” carries the language of seeking favor as you ask God to hear you.
THE ROOT
תַּחֲנוּנַי
tachanunai
GROWS FROM
חנן
ḥ-n-n
To show favor or be gracious; a plea from this root seeks favor.
The word translated “supplications” is shaped by the root for favor and graciousness. English makes it sound like a general request, while the Hebrew carries the texture of an appeal for favor.
ALSO GROWS
chen: Favor
חֵן
This branch makes the plea’s appeal for favor audible inside “supplications.”
ḥannun: Gracious
חַנּוּן
The same root describes graciousness, linking the plea to the favor it seeks.
שְׁמַע
shema
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear, listen, or attend.
“hear” in this verse is shema. The request is for more than sound to reach God: it asks for attention to the cry. The same root also appears in the connected psalm, where the LORD hears the one who cries.
ALSO GROWS
shomea: One who hears
שֹׁמֵעַ
This form names the listener, bringing the requested act of hearing into view.
shemuah: A report or something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch links hearing with what is received and attended to.
נָשְׂאִי
nasi
GROWS FROM
נשא
n-s-ʾ
To lift, carry, or bear.
“lift up” in this verse is nasi. The hands are described with a verb that can also mean carrying or bearing. Their raised posture gives the plea a visible direction, as if the appeal itself is being carried toward the holy place.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: To lift, carry, or bear
נָשָׂא
This is the verb’s basic range, showing the raised hands as an act of lifting.
massa: A burden or load
מַשָּׂא
A related word for what is carried echoes the weight a person may bring into a plea.
THE PATTERN
Prayer turns toward God through the joined gestures of voice, hands, and heart.
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.THE THREAD
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.Psalm 28 asks God to hear a cry; Psalm 34 shows the cry being heard. The shared Hebrew root שמע (shama, hear) links the plea here to that response.
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