What Does Psalm 37:13 Mean in the King James?
The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
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 LORD laughs because the threat’s approaching end is already visible to him.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks into the present moment when a threat looks settled. The LORD sees the one who opposes him approaching his day, and laughs at the one whose power cannot last.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that present power can make itself permanent; the one who threatens is already within reach of an ending visible to the LORD.
THE ROOT
יִשְׂחַק
yischaq
GROWS FROM
שׂחק
ś-ḥ-q
To laugh, play, or mock.
“laugh” in this verse is yischaq. This root can describe laughter, play, and mockery, giving the LORD’s laughter a sharper range than a neutral sound. The verse names why he laughs: he sees the adversary’s day coming before it arrives.
ALSO GROWS
seḥoq: Laughter.
שְׂחוֹק
Psalm 126:2 uses this noun for mouths filled with laughter, showing the same root can name laughter itself.
mesaḥaqim: Playing, making sport.
מְשַׂחֲקִים
In 2 Samuel 6:5, David and Israel play before the LORD; this branch reveals the root’s range from play to derisive laughter.
THE PATTERN
Opposition’s present power is bounded by a coming day that the LORD already sees.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.THE THREAD
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.Psalm 2 uses the same Hebrew root for the One who laughs as rulers gather against him. Together, the verses show divine laughter as a view of opposition already bounded by its coming end.
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