What Does Psalm 62:4 Mean in the King James?
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
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 attack aims to lower the one lifted up, while hiding inside words that sound like blessing.
THE MEANING
You can hear words that sound supportive while the speaker holds an intent to diminish you. The verse names the split plainly: the mouth offers blessing, while inwardly there is a curse. Both layers are held in view at once.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this verse dissolves is that kind words prove goodwill; here, blessing on the lips coexists with inward hostility.
THE ROOT
מִשְּׂאֵתוֹ
miśśəʾētô
GROWS FROM
נשא
nasa
Lift, carry, or bear.
The word translated “excellency” comes from nasa, the root for lifting and carrying. The plot aims to bring down the one described through the language of being lifted up.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: Lift, carry, or bear.
נָשָׂא
The shared root makes the contrast between his elevated position and their attempt to cast him down more vivid.
nasi: A leader or prince; one raised to a position of authority.
נָשִׂיא
This branch also links being lifted with a person’s standing among others.
massa: A burden or load carried.
מַשָּׂא
The same root can name what is borne, opening a connection between elevation and bearing.
יְבָרְכוּ
yevarekhu
GROWS FROM
ברך
barak
Bless; the same word family also names the knee.
“bless” in this verse is yevarekhu. The verb is barak, whose word family also includes the word for knee. The mouth offers the language of blessing while the inward self holds its opposite, exposing the distance between outward posture and inner intent.
ALSO GROWS
berekh: Knee.
בֶּרֶךְ
This related word gives blessing a bodily association with bending the knee.
berakhah: Blessing.
בְּרָכָה
The noun shares the root of the spoken blessing in this verse.
יְקַלְלוּ
yeqallelû
GROWS FROM
קלל
qalal
Be light or make slight; also, curse.
Qalal can mean to make light of something, as well as to curse. The inward curse therefore echoes the plan to lower the lifted one: both diminish him.
ALSO GROWS
qal: Light or slight.
קַל
This related form shows the root’s sense of diminished weight or importance.
qelalah: Curse.
קְלָלָה
This noun names the inward curse the verse sets against the spoken blessing.
THE PATTERN
Speech can present blessing while concealing an inward intent to diminish or harm.
Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.THE THREAD
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.Psalm 12 names the inner split as a “double heart”; Psalm 62 shows its two faces as spoken blessing and inward curse. Together, they reveal how flattering speech can mask a divided intent.
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