What Does Psalm 53:6 Mean in the King James?

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Psalm 53:6 · 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 deliverance the verse longs for is not escape alone: it is return, and its evidence is a people able to rejoice again.

This verse gives your longing a shape: deliverance comes from Zion, and God turns the people’s captivity toward return. When that turning comes, Jacob and Israel answer with joy; restoration is more than getting free, it is life opening again.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Being bound does not mean you are abandoned or that return is impossible; the verse holds captivity and God’s restoring action together.

יְשׁוּעוֹת

yĕshûʿôt

GROWS FROM

ישע

y-sh-ʿ

Deliver, bring to safety.

“salvation” in this verse is yĕshûʿôt. The Hebrew uses the plural form, pointing to deliverances: concrete acts of bringing people out, not only an abstract idea. The verse longs for deliverance to reach a whole people and become visible in their joy.

ALSO GROWS

yasha: To deliver or bring to safety.

יָשַׁע

This verbal root gives the verse’s salvation its force as an act of bringing people out.

moshia: Deliverer; one who brings to safety.

מוֹשִׁיעַ

This branch makes the agent of deliverance explicit, echoing the verse’s claim that God restores the people.

בְּשׁוּב

bĕshûb

GROWS FROM

שוב

sh-w-b

Return, turn back.

“bringeth back” in this verse is bĕshûb. The line places ⁨שׁוּב⁩, return, beside ⁨שְׁבוּת⁩, the people’s captivity or fortunes. Their sound echo makes restoration feel like a turning within the very condition that held them; captivity remains real, but it is not the final direction.

ALSO GROWS

shuv: To return or turn back.

שׁוּב

This is the root of the verse’s movement from captivity toward restoration.

teshuvah: Return or turning.

תְּשׁוּבָה

This related form carries the same motion of turning back, clarifying the verse’s image of restoration as a return.

יָגֵל

yāgēl

GROWS FROM

גיל

g-y-l

Rejoice, exult.

“rejoice” in this verse is yāgēl. The verse sets Jacob’s rejoicing beside Israel’s gladness, giving restoration a doubled response. Deliverance is not only a changed condition; it becomes joy that a people can share.

ALSO GROWS

gîl: Joy or rejoicing.

גִּיל

This noun from the same root makes the joy in the verse a named state, not a passing flourish.

yāgîlû: They rejoice or exult.

יָגִילוּ

This related verbal form echoes the verse’s picture of a people responding together.

When what was lost is restored, the return opens into shared joy.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:10 · KJVThe return to Zion culminates in joy and gladness as sorrow gives way.
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
Jeremiah 31:13 · KJVGod’s turning of mourning into joy makes restoration something a whole community shares.
For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:24 · KJVThe one who was lost is found, and the return immediately becomes a shared celebration.
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
Isaiah 12:2 · KJV

Isaiah uses the same ⁨ישע⁩ root behind the deliverance longed for here. The hope for Israel becomes a present, personal recognition: God is the deliverance itself.

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Psalm 53:6 KJV Meaning