What Does Psalm 3:6 Mean in the King James?
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
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 crowd can surround the speaker without governing his inner response.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks from inside a real threat: people gather in overwhelming numbers and close in from every side. Yet their arrangement does not dictate the speaker’s response; fear is not the only possible answer to being surrounded. The threat stays in view without becoming the final word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that being surrounded by danger means fear has already defeated you.
THE ROOT
אִירָא
yira
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
to fear or revere
“afraid” in this verse is yira. The root can name fear before danger and awe before God; the object shapes its sense. Here, the object is the people around the speaker, so the word names fear without making fear inevitable.
ALSO GROWS
yirah: fear, awe
יִרְאָה
This noun from the same root shows how one Hebrew seed can carry both fear and reverence, depending on what is faced.
nora: awe-inspiring, fearsome
נוֹרָא
This related form shows the root can describe what evokes fear or awe, making the object of the response central.
סָבִיב
saviv
GROWS FROM
סבב
s-b-b
to turn, circle, or surround
“Round about” carries the motion of circling, not just a point on a map: the people form pressure on every side. The verse names the full shape of the threat, yet that encirclement does not dictate the speaker’s response.
ALSO GROWS
savav: to turn around, circle, surround
סָבַב
The verb makes the encirclement active: the people have gathered around the speaker.
saviv: around, on every side
סָבִיב
This form appears in the verse and gives the surrounding threat its all-sides shape.
THE PATTERN
Pressure may encircle a person, but it does not decide whether fear rules.
Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.THE THREAD
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?Both psalms use the Hebrew root ירא (y-r-ʾ, fear) in “I will not fear,” linking the refusal to be ruled by surrounding numbers with a wider claim about human power. The line does not deny what people can do; it names the LORD as the speaker’s side while facing that question.
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