What Does Psalm 37:17 Mean in the King James?
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
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 wicked’s strength is headed for fracture, while the LORD is already upholding the aligned.
THE MEANING
The force that seems able to control outcomes can break, but the LORD is the ongoing support of the aligned. When your own strength feels fragile, this verse speaks of a standing that does not depend on your force alone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that only those with unbroken strength can remain standing. Here, support comes from the LORD’s action, not from the strength of the righteous person’s arms.
THE ROOT
סוֹמֵךְ
somekh
GROWS FROM
סמך
s-m-kh
To lean upon, support, or sustain.
“upholdeth” in this verse is somekh. The LORD is described as actively supporting the righteous, not merely as someone who once gave them strength. The root carries the sense of something bearing weight, making the verse’s support concrete.
ALSO GROWS
samakh: To lean upon or support.
סָמַךְ
This verb makes “upholdeth” more than a title: it describes the act of bearing or resting weight upon something.
vatismechehu: “And it upheld him” (Isaiah 59:16).
וַתִּסְמְכֵהוּ
The same root describes righteousness sustaining a person, echoing the support given to the aligned here.
צַדִּיקִים
tsaddiqim
GROWS FROM
צדק
ts-d-q
Rightness, justice, alignment.
“righteous” in this verse is tsaddiqim. The verse identifies those being upheld by their alignment, not by the strength of their arms. This places their standing in right relation rather than in force.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Rightness or justice.
צֶדֶק
It shows the shared root’s concern with what is rightly ordered, the quality named in “the righteous.”
tzedakah: Justice or right action.
צְדָקָה
It shows alignment reaching into how rightness is lived, not remaining only a label for a person.
THE PATTERN
Visible strength can fail, while true standing comes from God’s support of the aligned.
The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.THE THREAD
The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.Both verses use the Hebrew root סמך (samakh, to support): Psalm 37 names the LORD as the one upholding the aligned, and Psalm 145 uses the same verb for those who fall. The echo shows support meeting a person at the point where their own strength gives way.
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