What Does Psalm 62:11 Mean in the King James?
God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
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 word for “power” shares its root with “stronghold,” so what belongs to God is strength that can shelter.
THE MEANING
God’s strength is the source named here, and the sentence reaches you as something heard twice over. Your own capacity sits within a larger reality whose strength belongs to God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you must be the origin of every strength you need. This verse places strength’s source and ownership in God.
THE ROOT
עֹז
ʿoz strength or
GROWS FROM
עָזַז
ʿ-z-z
To be strong or mighty.
English can make “power” sound abstract, but עֹז (ʿoz) names strength or might. Its root also gives a word for a stronghold, joining strength with the idea of shelter.
ALSO GROWS
ʿaz: Strong, fierce, or forceful.
עַז
This branch shows that the root describes strength as a quality, not just an amount of power.
maʿoz: Stronghold or refuge.
מָעוֹז
This branch lets you hear strength as something that can shelter, not only as force.
שָׁמַעְתִּי
shamaʿti I heard
GROWS FROM
שָׁמַע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear or listen; in some contexts, to heed.
English gives you a completed mental event: “heard.” The Hebrew root can also reach hearing that heeds, though here the doubled hearing emphasizes recognition rather than issuing a separate command.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear or listen.
שְׁמַע
The imperative form makes the root’s sense of listening direct and active.
mishmaʿat: Obedience or attentive hearing.
מִשְׁמַעַת
This branch shows how hearing can extend into heeding, a shade held within the root even when this verse stresses what is heard.
THE PATTERN
God’s strength is the source that reaches people at the edge of their own strength.
The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.THE THREAD
The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.Psalm 29:11 uses the same Hebrew word עֹז (ʿoz, strength) and says the LORD gives it to his people. The shared root opens Psalm 62’s claim of God’s ownership into a picture of strength shared with people, alongside the promise of wholeness.
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