What Does Psalm 38:16 Mean in the King James?

For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.

Psalm 38:16 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Their self-made greatness rises precisely where your footing gives way.

THE MEANING

You know the dread of being watched while your footing falters and having others turn that moment into their triumph. The verse holds both the stumble and their rejoicing in the same frame, so the pain includes what happens around your fall as well as the fall itself.

THE ROOT

הִגְדִּילוּ

higdilu

GROWS FROM

גדל

g-d-l

Grow or become great; in this form, make great.

“magnify themselves” in this verse is higdilu. The Hebrew verb belongs to the family of growing or making great. They make themselves large against you precisely as your foot slips, tying their apparent elevation to your exposed moment.

ALSO GROWS

gadol: Great, large

גָּדוֹל

The adjective “great” comes from the same seed; English does not show that their magnifying is an act of making themselves great.

migdal: Tower

מִגְדָּל

A tower is a thing raised high, making visible this root family’s movement toward height and scale.

בְּמוֹט

bemot

GROWS FROM

מוט

m-w-t

Totter, waver, slip, or be moved.

“slippeth” in this verse is bemot. The root carries both slipping and being moved, two shades English separates. Here your foot loses steadiness while others use that very moment to enlarge themselves against you.

ALSO GROWS

mot: Totter, waver, slip

מוֹט

This verb family can also be translated “be moved,” linking a slipping step with a loss of steadiness.

motah: Pole or bar of a yoke

מוֹטָה

A noun in this family names a bar placed across a yoke; beside the slipping foot, it brings the image of weight and what bears it into view.

THE PATTERN

When one person falls, another’s response reveals whether their joy is shared or built from the other’s distress.

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

Proverbs 24:17 · KJVIt names the exact temptation in this verse: taking an opponent’s fall as a reason for gladness.

But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

Obadiah 1:12 · KJVIt joins rejoicing at another’s destruction with speaking proudly over the day of distress, the same pairing of delight and self-exaltation.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Romans 12:15 · KJVIt describes shared joy and shared grief as the relational pattern, rather than turning another person’s collapse into private elevation.

THE THREAD

When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.

Psalm 94:18 · KJV

Psalm 94:18 repeats the same root behind “my foot slippeth,” then names what holds the speaker: the LORD’s faithful love. This verse sets that same unstable moment beside hostile gazes, where others make themselves great over it.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us