What Does Psalm 6:5 Mean in the King James?
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
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 joins remembering God to voicing thanks, showing that remembrance here is a living act of acknowledgment.
THE MEANING
As you read, remembering God reaches beyond an idea held within: it takes shape as acknowledgment and thanks. The verse voices the fear that death closes this living response, giving weight to the present moment in which you can still speak it.
THE ROOT
יוֹדֶה
yodeh
GROWS FROM
ידה
Y-D-H
Yadah means to acknowledge, confess, praise, or give thanks.
“give thee thanks” in this verse is yodeh. The verb translated “give thanks” also carries the sense of confession and praise, so the verse asks about a living act of acknowledgment, not just a feeling of gratitude. Its word-family includes thanksgiving and praise, widening the act from inward feeling to expression.
ALSO GROWS
todah: Thanksgiving; confession or acknowledgment.
תּוֹדָה
This noun makes visible how giving thanks and openly acknowledging something belong to the same word-family.
Yehudah: A name connected in Genesis with praising the LORD.
יְהוּדָה
The name’s link to praise echoes the verse’s picture of thanks as an act that can be expressed.
זִכְרֶךָ
zikhrekha
GROWS FROM
זכר
Z-K-R
Zakar means to remember, call to mind, or mention.
This word-family can hold recollection and mention together: remembering can mean keeping someone in mind and naming them. Paired with giving thanks, it connects inward remembrance with spoken acknowledgment.
ALSO GROWS
zeker: Remembrance, mention, or memorial.
זֵכֶר
Its sense of mention brings the possibility of speaking what is remembered closer to the verse’s act of thanks.
zikaron: A remembrance or memorial that keeps someone or something in mind.
זִכָּרוֹן
This branch shows remembrance as something that can be given form and carried forward.
THE PATTERN
Life gives remembrance a voice through praise and thanks.
The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.THE THREAD
What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?Psalm 30:9 uses the same Hebrew root ידה (Y-D-H; yadah, to acknowledge, praise, or give thanks), asking whether dust can praise. The shared root lets both verses frame life as the space where acknowledgment is spoken.
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