What Does Psalm 35:4 Mean in the King James?
Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
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 names the target as נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh), the living self, making clear that the pursuers seek the speaker’s life in its fullness.
THE MEANING
When another’s pursuit is directed at your life, this verse lets the danger be named without disguise. The speaker asks for those who seek the living self and devise harm to be turned away in shame and confusion. The plea keeps the threat in view while making retreat its requested answer.
THE ROOT
נַפְשִׁי
nafshi
GROWS FROM
נפש
n-p-sh
The living self: living soul, life, or person.
“soul” in this verse is nafshi. The word names the living person in the fullness of life. The threat is aimed at the speaker’s life itself, and the prayer names that danger plainly.
ALSO GROWS
nephesh: living soul; living self
נֶפֶשׁ
This is the noun in its basic form, showing the living person at the center of the threat.
naphash: recover, take respite, be refreshed
נָפַשׁ
This related verb brings recovery and respite into the root’s range; here, the living self being pursued is also the self capable of relief.
יִסֹּגוּ
yissogu
GROWS FROM
נסג
n-s-g
Withdraw, recede, draw back.
“turned back” in this verse is yissogu. The Hebrew verb pictures retreat, and the next word makes the backward direction explicit. The pursuers’ advance gives way to movement away from the speaker.
ALSO GROWS
nasag: withdraw, recede
נָסַג
This is the verb’s lexical form and names the retreat requested in the verse.
nesigah: withdrawal, retreat
נְסִיגָה
This noun carries the same root into a name for the movement away, giving the verse’s reversal a spatial shape.
חֹשְׁבֵי
choshevei
GROWS FROM
חשב
ch-sh-b
Think, reckon, account, devise.
“devise” in this verse is choshevei. The root can describe reckoning and calculation as well as thought. The harm named here is presented as something considered and designed.
ALSO GROWS
machshavah: thought, plan
מַחְשָׁבָה
This branch names a thought as a plan, echoing the deliberate design conveyed by “devise.”
cheshbon: account, calculation
חֶשְׁבּוֹן
This branch preserves the root’s sense of reckoning, bringing the calculating quality of the harmful plan into view.
THE PATTERN
When hostile pursuit is reversed, those advancing against another are made to retreat, fall, or lose their standing.
When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.THE THREAD
Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.This verse repeats the Hebrew verb נסג (nasag), “withdraw, recede,” in its request that the pursuers turn backward. The shared root makes the retreat in Psalm 35:4 part of the same precise image: pursuit answered by withdrawal.
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