What Does Psalm 35:22 Mean in the King James?
This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.
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 word for “silence” can also carry the sense of deafness, so the plea asks to be heard as well as answered.
THE MEANING
You are seen in what you bring forward, and the verse gives that seeing an urgent next movement: an answer and a presence that does not stay far. Its plea holds recognition, response, and nearness together.
THE ROOT
תֶּחֱרַשׁ
teḥĕraš
GROWS FROM
חרש
To be silent; the same consonants also carry the sense of deafness.
The plea against silence touches both an unanswered voice and an unheard cry. The next words ask the LORD not to be far, joining hearing and nearness in one appeal.
ALSO GROWS
ḥērēš: Deaf; unable to hear.
חֵרֵשׁ
The shared consonants bring the possibility of not hearing close to the plea against keeping silent.
ḥārēš: Silent; one who keeps silence.
חָרֵשׁ
This form makes the verse’s direct request not to remain silent visible in the root itself.
רָאִיתָ
rāʾîtā
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see, look at, or perceive.
The verse begins with an act of perception: “this” is already before the one addressed. The root also names the seer and what comes into view, tying the plea to something seen rather than an abstract idea.
ALSO GROWS
rōʾeh: One who sees; a seer.
רֹאֶה
The branch names the one doing the seeing, echoing the verse’s address to the LORD as witness.
marʾeh: Appearance, sight, or vision.
מַרְאֶה
The root reaches from seeing to what is seen, giving “this” the sense of a matter brought into view.
תִּרְחַק
tirḥaq
GROWS FROM
רחק
To be distant or far; to put at a distance.
The plea is about presence as well as response: the speaker asks for distance to close. The same root can describe being far and putting something far away.
ALSO GROWS
rāḥōq: Far away, distant.
רָחוֹק
This adjective gives the condition the verse asks not to remain: the LORD far from the speaker.
hirḥîq: To remove or put at a distance.
הִרְחִיק
This form makes distance an action or change, opening the plea as a request for separation to be undone.
THE PATTERN
A cry for help holds together being seen, being heard, and God’s nearness.
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.THE THREAD
A Psalm of David. Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.Both pleas use חָרַשׁ (ḥāraš), the word for keeping silent, and address the LORD directly. Psalm 35:22 extends the shared plea from silence to distance, holding hearing and nearness together.
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