What Does Psalm 57:5 Mean in the King James?

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

Psalm 57:5 · 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.

THE KEY

The verse names God’s glory as weight, placing that weight above the heavens and over the whole earth.

THE MEANING

God stands higher than the heavens, and God’s weight is set above the whole earth. For you now, the visible world is not the highest measure; God’s weight stands over the world you inhabit.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie this undoes is that the visible world is the highest authority. The verse places God’s weight above both the heavens and the earth.

THE ROOT

כְּבוֹדֶךָ

kevodekha

GROWS FROM

כבד

k-b-d

To be heavy or weighty.

The root gives “glory” the sense of weight: something substantial, with consequence and honor. The verse sets God’s weight above the whole earth, giving exaltation a sense of surpassing importance.

ALSO GROWS

kāvēd: Heavy; weighty.

כָּבֵד

This adjective preserves the sense of heaviness beneath the verse’s word for glory.

kāvōd: Weight; honor; glory.

כָּבוֹד

This noun shares the root and names the weight the verse places above all the earth.

רוּמָה

rūmāh

GROWS FROM

רום

r-w-m

To rise, be high, or be lifted up.

“exalted” in this verse is rūmāh. The root turns exaltation into an image of height: God is lifted above the heavens. Paired with God’s weight above the earth, the verse holds height and substance together.

ALSO GROWS

rām: High; exalted.

רָם

This branch shares the root’s language of height and echoes God being exalted.

mārōm: Height; high place.

מָרוֹם

This noun from the root evokes the elevated place echoed by “above the heavens.”

THE PATTERN

Scripture names God’s exalted glory as a reality that reaches across every realm from heaven to earth.

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;

Psalm 108:5 · KJVThis repeated refrain joins God’s height above the heavens to God’s glory above the earth.

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

Psalm 148:13 · KJVThis praise places the LORD’s glory above both earth and heaven, echoing the verse’s full span.

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

Revelation 5:13 · KJVEvery realm joins in honoring God and the Lamb, voicing glory across the whole creation.

THE THREAD

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Isaiah 6:3 · KJV

Isaiah’s “glory” uses the same Hebrew root ⁨כבד⁩ (k-b-d, weight) as the word in this verse. The weight placed above the earth here is also what fills the earth there, holding transcendence and presence together.

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