What Does Psalm 59:8 Mean in the King James?

But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.

Psalm 59:8 · 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 LORD’s answer unfolds in two distinct Hebrew verbs: laughter first, then open mockery.

THE MEANING

The LORD meets the nations’ hostility with laughter and derision; their numbers do not make their threat ultimate. The verse speaks now wherever opposition presents itself as beyond answer: its menace is real, but it does not control the outcome.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that a united or powerful opposition makes its threat final, or that the LORD is intimidated by its numbers.

THE ROOT

תִּשְׂחַק

tischaq

GROWS FROM

שׂחק

śḥq

To laugh or play.

“laugh” in this verse is tischaq. This root carries both laughter and play, giving the LORD’s response a shade beyond solemn judgment. Here it stands beside a separate verb for mockery, so laughter is the first movement in a two-part reply.

ALSO GROWS

śeḥoq: Laughter.

שְׂחוֹק

This noun makes explicit the laughter held in the verse’s verb.

məśaḥeq: Playing; one who plays.

מְשַׂחֵק

This form shows the root’s range beyond derision: its seed can describe play as well as laughter.

תִּלְעַג

tilʿag

GROWS FROM

לעג

lʿg

To mock or scorn.

The line does not repeat one verb for emphasis: it moves from laughter to a second, distinct word for mockery. This sharper verb makes the LORD’s derision explicit.

ALSO GROWS

laʿag: Mockery; scorn.

לַעַג

This noun names the derision carried by the verse’s second verb.

loʿeg: Mocking; one who mocks.

לֹעֵג

This form turns the root into a description of the one who scorns.

THE PATTERN

When opposition assumes it controls the future, the text answers from a vantage that already sees its limits.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Psalm 2:4 · KJVThe same paired verbs, laughter followed by mockery, answer the nations’ opposition.

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

Proverbs 1:26 · KJVWisdom’s response to refused counsel shows defiance turning into calamity from a perspective that sees beyond the present moment.

The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.

Psalm 37:13 · KJVThe LORD’s laughter follows from seeing the adversary’s approaching end, beyond the threat’s immediate appearance.

THE THREAD

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Psalm 2:4 · KJV

Psalm 2:4 uses the same two Hebrew roots for laugh and derision as Psalm 59:8. The shared pair links the LORD’s laughter to the nations’ opposition and reveals it as a recurring answer, not a passing image.

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