What Does Psalm 35:7 Mean in the King James?
For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
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 same word marks both the hidden net and the dug pit as harm done for nothing, so the danger is not a verdict on the person it targets.
THE MEANING
This verse gives language to being targeted without having caused the attack. The net is hidden and the pit is dug on purpose; unjustified harm is still real harm.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie it undoes is: “If I am targeted, I must have earned it.” The verse names the plot as without cause.
THE ROOT
חִנָּם
ḥinnām
GROWS FROM
חנן
ḥ-n-n
To show favor or act graciously; the related adverb חִנָּם means freely, for nothing, or without cause.
“without cause” in this verse is ḥinnām. The word חִנָּם appears twice, marking both the net and the pit as gratuitous harm. English catches the absence of a reason; the root family also carries the sense of what is freely given, without being owed.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēn: Favor.
חֵן
This related word names favor freely extended, bringing a sharp contrast to harm freely dealt.
ḥānan: To show favor or act graciously.
חָנַן
It anchors the family in the act of extending favor and helps reveal the sense of חִנָּם as freely, without cause.
טָמְנוּ
ṭāmenū
GROWS FROM
טמן
ṭ-m-n
To hide, conceal, or bury.
“hid” in this verse is ṭāmenū. The same root can describe what is hidden away as treasure, so hiddenness alone does not signal harm. Here the hidden thing is a net in a pit, and concealment becomes ambush.
ALSO GROWS
ṭāmūn: Hidden or concealed.
טָמוּן
It shares the root’s sense of something kept out of sight, as the net is here.
maṭmōn: A hidden treasure or deposit.
מַטְמוֹן
This branch shows that what is concealed may be valuable; in this verse, what is concealed is a trap.
חָפְרוּ
ḥāferū
GROWS FROM
חפר
ḥ-p-r
To dig or excavate.
“dug” in this verse is ḥāferū. The verb keeps the diggers in view: the pit is made for the speaker’s living self, not a danger that simply appears. The net is concealed and the pit deliberately opened; both show effort spent preparing the threat.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāfar: To dig or excavate.
חָפַר
This is the root verb itself, making the pit a deliberate act of digging.
ḥōfēr: One who digs; a digger.
חֹפֵר
This form keeps an agent in the picture: someone is doing the work that prepares the pit.
THE PATTERN
A net or pit is a chosen instrument of harm, and an attack can be named as unprovoked without making it less real.
They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.THE THREAD
Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.The Hebrew repeats חִנָּם (ḥinnām): in verse 7 it marks the net and pit as gratuitous; in verse 19 it marks the haters themselves. The same word connects the concealed acts to the hostility behind them.
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