What Does Psalm 55:17 Mean in the King James?
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
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
Prayer here moves from deliberate speech to a moan, and the verse says both reach the One who hears.
THE MEANING
Evening, morning, and noon hold prayer across your changing day. The Hebrew pairs שׂיח (śîaḥ, speaking or musing) with המה (hāmâ, moaning or roaring), so deliberate words and an unsettled sound both belong to the voice that is heard. Even an unpolished cry remains fully audible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that prayer is heard only when it is composed into clear words: the verse includes a moan alongside spoken reflection.
THE ROOT
אשיחה
ʾāśîḥâ
GROWS FROM
שׂיח
śîaḥ
To muse, speak, or turn thought over in words.
The word translated “pray” carries the sense of voicing what is being turned over within. Set beside a moan, it shows prayer holding both reflection shaped into words and sound that spills beyond them.
ALSO GROWS
śîaḥ: Meditation, inward speech, or complaint.
שִׂיחַ
This branch shows that prayer can include the mind’s ongoing reflection and its complaint.
śîḥâ: Meditation or discourse.
שִׂיחָה
This related word carries the root’s movement from inward musing into expressed speech.
וְאֶהֱמֶה
veʾehĕmeh
GROWS FROM
המה
hāmâ
To murmur, moan, roar, or make a restless sound.
The root behind “cry aloud” can describe a moan or restless roar, not only a deliberate shout. The verse places this less controlled sound beside prayerful speech, and both are heard.
ALSO GROWS
hāmôn: Tumult, noise, or a noisy multitude.
הָמוֹן
The branch carries the root’s sense of sound swelling into a commotion.
yehĕmû: They roar.
יֶהֱמוּ
This form describes roaring waters, showing how the same root can name a sound that rises with force.
THE PATTERN
Being heard includes the whole range of prayer, from voiced reflection to groaning that words cannot carry.
I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.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
I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.The word behind “I complained” comes from the same root, המה (hāmâ, to moan or roar), as “cry aloud” here. The shared root links daily prayer with a moan in distress: that groan is already part of prayer’s language.
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