What Does Psalm 3:4 Mean in the King James?
I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.
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 says the LORD answered the voice, not merely heard it.
THE MEANING
Your voice reaches the LORD as a real address, and the LORD answers from his holy hill. The verse holds your call together with a response coming from the place set apart to him; Selah lets that exchange linger.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that your cry reaches only silence is undone here: the verse names a response.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעֲנֵנִי
wayyaʿanēnî
GROWS FROM
ענה
ʿ-n-h
to answer, respond
The Hebrew form means “and he answered me,” while the KJV gives “he heard me.” The verse names a response, with the reply coming from the LORD’s holy hill.
ALSO GROWS
ʿānâ: to answer, respond
עָנָה
This is the verb behind the verse’s “he heard me”; its root makes the reply explicit.
maʿăneh: an answer, a response
מַעֲנֶה
The same root names the reply itself, underscoring that the cry is met rather than merely noticed.
אֶקְרָא
ʾeqrāʾ
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
to call out, proclaim, name
“cried” in this verse is ʾeqrāʾ. The Hebrew verb means “I call,” an intentionally addressed voice. Its branches also name a caller or reader and a convocation, words for voicing and gathering; the verse frames the cry as an address, not an unshaped outburst.
ALSO GROWS
qōrēʾ: one who calls or reads
קֹרֵא
The caller is an active voice, echoing the verse’s direct address to the LORD.
miqrāʾ: a convocation, a reading
מִקְרָא
The root can name a gathering called into being; here the voice likewise reaches toward another.
THE PATTERN
A direct call toward the LORD meets a response named as an answer.
But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.THE THREAD
Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;Isaiah pairs קרא (qārāʾ, to call) with ענה (ʿānâ, to answer) in the same call-and-response structure. It opens Psalm’s “he heard me” as an answered cry, and voices the reply as “Here I am.”
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