What Does Psalm 5:1 Mean in the King James?
To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
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 prayer asks God to hear not only what the speaker can say, but the inward murmur beneath it.
THE MEANING
Your spoken words and the murmur still forming within you both stand within the address to God. The prayer asks not only for sound to be heard, but for its inward meaning to be discerned. The unpolished thought is not outside the reach of that attention.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the belief that only polished, audible prayer counts: it places inward meditation beside spoken words.
THE ROOT
הֲגִיגִי
hagigi
GROWS FROM
הגה
Mutter, murmur, or utter; by extension, ponder.
The word comes from a verb for murmuring as well as pondering. Here, meditation is not sealed off as silent thought: the inward murmur stands beside spoken words, both addressed to God.
ALSO GROWS
yehgeh: Meditates or murmurs repeatedly.
יֶהְגֶּה
Psalm 1:2 uses this form for meditation day and night, showing the same root at work in recurring inner speech.
yehgeh: Growls or utters; used of a lion over its prey in Isaiah 31:4.
יֶהְגֶּה
The same root can name audible, low vocalizing, making the connection between inward meditation and sound visible.
הַאֲזִינָה
ha'azina
GROWS FROM
אזן
Ear; listen attentively.
“give ear” in this verse is ha'azina. The verb shares its root with the Hebrew word for ear. The prayer’s appeal for attention is grounded in the bodily image of lending an ear.
ALSO GROWS
ozen: The ear.
אֹזֶן
The shared root links listening directly to the organ that receives sound.
he'ezin: Listened closely or gave ear.
הֶאֱזִין
This related verb form reinforces that the request is for focused attention, not mere sound reception.
בִּינָה
binnah
GROWS FROM
בין
Discern, understand, or perceive.
The request moves from hearing to discernment: the speaker asks for the inward murmur’s meaning to be understood. English “consider” holds this movement, while the Hebrew root makes the act of discerning explicit.
ALSO GROWS
binah: Understanding or discernment.
בִּינָה
This noun from the same root names the capacity the speaker asks for in the verb “consider.”
tevunah: Insight or understanding.
תְּבוּנָה
This related form shows that the root carries the sense of grasping what lies beneath the surface.
THE PATTERN
Spoken words and inward thought both enter the field of divine attention.
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.THE THREAD
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.The same root, הָגָה (hagah, “murmur or meditate”), names the inner speech in both verses. Psalm 1:2 uses it for recurring meditation on the LORD’s instruction; Psalm 5 brings that same inward murmur into prayer.
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