What Does Psalm 42:5 Mean in the King James?
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
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
Your soul can be low and roaring within while hope waits on deliverance bound to God’s face.
THE MEANING
Your living soul can be bowed low and churning inside; the verse names that without making it the whole story. It turns hope into waiting toward God, and the speaker’s “I shall yet praise him” keeps praise in the future. The help named here is deliverance bound to God’s face.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A low and noisy soul is not proof that the story has ended or that praise is impossible.
THE ROOT
יְשׁוּעוֹת
yeshuot
GROWS FROM
ישע
y-š-ʿ
to deliver, rescue, bring out
“help” in this verse is yeshuot. The Hebrew phrase speaks of the deliverances of his face, or countenance. Psalm 43:5 uses the same root in “health of my countenance,” bringing God’s face and the speaker’s restored face into one word-family.
ALSO GROWS
yeshuah: deliverance
יְשׁוּעָה
This singular form makes clear that the help here is being brought out, not merely receiving an extra aid.
moshia: deliverer
מוֹשִׁיעַ
The same root can name the one who brings deliverance, linking the act of help to a deliverer.
וַתֶּהֱמִי
vattehemi
GROWS FROM
המה
h-m-h
to roar, murmur, make a restless noise
“disquieted” in this verse is vattehemi. The Hebrew verb carries the sound of roaring or murmuring, so the soul’s unrest is more than quiet sadness. The language gives inner turmoil a voice and volume, then lets the speaker address it directly.
ALSO GROWS
yehemu: they roar
יֶהֱמוּ
The same root describes roaring waters, showing how the verse uses a word for audible turbulence to name the soul’s unrest.
hamon: tumult, roar, multitude
הָמוֹן
This branch can name a gathered mass of noise, giving the soul’s disturbance weight and intensity.
הוֹחִילִי
hoḥili
GROWS FROM
יחל
y-ḥ-l
to wait, expect, hope
The command translated “hope” carries the sense of waiting with expectation. The soul is not told to deny its turmoil; it is directed toward God while the awaited future is still ahead.
ALSO GROWS
yachal: wait, hope, expect
יָחַל
This verb holds waiting and hope together, so hope here is continued expectation rather than a wish that everything were already settled.
toḥelet: hope, expectation
תּוֹחֶלֶת
This noun from the same root names expectation stretched through time, a form of waiting that remains alive before its fulfillment.
THE PATTERN
Hope keeps a future expectation alive before relief can be seen.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?THE THREAD
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.The Hebrew root ישע (y-š-ʿ), meaning deliverance, appears as “help” here and “health” there. The refrain turns from deliverance bound to God’s face to the health of the speaker’s own countenance.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us