What Does Psalm 52:7 Mean in the King James?
Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
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 same Hebrew root names both the stronghold this man refuses in God and the strength he builds in ruin, exposing that his strength has not vanished but changed its ground.
THE MEANING
The verse names a living pattern: a person refuses God as refuge, rests security on amassed wealth, and grows strong in destructive conduct. The repeated strength-root shows that power remains, but it is being built around ruin.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that enough wealth can make a person secure on its own: riches take the place of refuge while ruinous conduct gains strength.
THE ROOT
מָעוֹזוֹ
maʿozo
GROWS FROM
עזז
ʿ-z-z
To be strong, mighty; to prevail.
“strength / strengthened himself” in this verse is maʿozo. The verse uses this root for both מָעוֹזוֹ (maʿozo), the stronghold he does not set in God, and יָעֹז (yaʿoz), where he grows strong in his wickedness. Strength is not absent; the verse reveals it being relocated from refuge in God to self-reinforcing harm.
ALSO GROWS
maʿoz: Stronghold, refuge, place of strength.
מָעוֹז
This is the word for the refuge he does not make God.
ʿoz: Strength, might.
עֹז
It names the force that the repeated root carries through both parts of the verse.
yaʿoz: He grows strong, prevails.
יָעֹז
This is the verb used for the strength he gathers in his wickedness.
וַיִּבְטַח
vayyivtaḥ
GROWS FROM
בטח
b-ṭ-ḥ
To trust, feel secure, rely on.
“trusted” in this verse is vayyivtaḥ. This verb reaches beyond holding an opinion about wealth: it describes where a person feels secure. The verse places that security in riches, setting it against the stronghold named in its first clause.
ALSO GROWS
beṭaḥ: Security, safely.
בֶּטַח
The word makes clear that trust is tied to a felt state of security.
mivtaḥ: Confidence, refuge.
מִבְטָח
This branch brings trust close to the idea of a place one relies on for safety, which is exactly the role wealth takes here.
THE PATTERN
What a person treats as secure becomes the thing they lean on, yet its apparent strength can fail.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;THE THREAD
Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.Psalm 62:10 repeats the verb בָּטַח (batach, trust) and places it beside riches. The shared root reveals trust as a place of security, while the verse warns that growing wealth cannot hold the heart’s security.
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