What Does Psalm 51:8 Mean in the King James?
Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
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 verse asks for joy to be heard into the very bones that bear the crushing.
THE MEANING
Your bones are named as the place where crushing is felt, and God is named as the one who has crushed them. The request is for joy and gladness to reach you through hearing, until those same bones can rejoice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that you must first be whole before joy can return: here, the crushed bones themselves are the ones invited to rejoice.
THE ROOT
דִּכִּיתָ
dikkita
GROWS FROM
דכא
To crush, beat down, or humble.
“broken” in this verse is dikkita. The Hebrew keeps the crushing present in the verb: these bones are not merely described as damaged; the verse names them as crushed. It does not erase that fact when it asks them to rejoice, the crushed bones are precisely where joy is sought.
ALSO GROWS
dakka: Crushed, contrite.
דַּכָּא
Psalm 34:18 uses this same root for the contrite, linking the crushed bones here with a crushed inner life.
medukka: Crushed, bruised.
מְדֻכָּא
The related form in Isaiah 53:5 shows the same root describing a person who is crushed.
תַּשְׁמִיעֵנִי
tashmi'eni
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear, listen, and respond.
“hear” in this verse is tashmi'eni. The request is not simply for joy to exist, but for joy to reach the speaker through hearing. This root holds listening and response together, so the sound of joy can meet the crushed person as something received.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
This familiar form carries hearing into response, opening the verse’s request beyond merely detecting a sound.
shemuah: A report or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This related noun shows how hearing can carry news to a listener; here what is heard is joy and gladness.
THE PATTERN
Joy can reach a person through real sorrow without pretending the sorrow is gone.
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.THE THREAD
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.“Contrite” here comes from דכא (daka), the same root as “broken” in Psalm 51:8: both verses name what is crushed. Psalm 34:18 adds that the LORD is near to the crushed, opening the image of these bones beyond their pain.
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