What Does Psalm 55:23 Mean in the King James?
But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
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 sets violence on a downward path into the pit and locates the speaker’s security in God.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now into a life exposed to violent deceit: God brings such people down, and they do not live out half their days. The speaker’s trust rests in God while the threat and judgment remain present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that violent, deceitful people can secure lasting power by making others afraid.
THE ROOT
אֶבְטַח
evtach
GROWS FROM
בטח
To trust, feel secure, or place confidence.
The word translated “trust” shares its root with words for refuge and being secure, so the speaker’s trust carries the sense of placing confidence where safety is found. That reliance stands at the end of a verse filled with violence and ruin.
ALSO GROWS
mivtaḥ: Refuge, security, or confidence
מִבְטָח
This related word makes the root’s sense of trust as a place of security audible in the speaker’s closing declaration.
bāṭûaḥ: Secure, safe, or confident
בָּטוּחַ
This branch describes the settled condition that grows from the confidence the speaker places in God.
שַׁחַת
shaḥat
GROWS FROM
שחת
To ruin, corrupt, or destroy; also associated with a pit or destruction.
“pit of destruction” in this verse is shaḥat. The noun translated “destruction” also names a pit, while words from the same root describe ruining or corrupting. The image joins the place where the violent descend with the ruin their conduct embodies.
ALSO GROWS
shiḥēt: He ruined or corrupted
שִׁחֵת
This verb shows the root’s active sense of ruin behind the pit named in the verse.
mashḥit: Destroyer, one who ruins
מַשְׁחִית
This branch names an agent of destruction and echoes the verse’s picture of violence meeting ruin.
THE PATTERN
Violence does not secure the last word over life; the verse places judgment and trust in God’s hands.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.THE THREAD
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.Both verses use the same Hebrew root for trust. Psalm 37 joins that reliance to committing one’s way to the LORD; Psalm 55 places it after its unsparing account of violence and early death.
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