What Does Psalm 64:5 Mean in the King James?
They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
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
They are not merely hiding the evil; they are strengthening themselves inside it.
THE MEANING
Harm gains confidence as its planners reinforce it in speech and conceal it from view. The question “Who shall see them?” exposes the assumption that what is hidden from people is unseen altogether.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that concealment makes wrongdoing invisible.
THE ROOT
יְחַזְּקוּ
yĕḥazzĕqû
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥ-z-q
Be strong; strengthen; make firm.
“encourage themselves” in this verse is yĕḥazzĕqû. The verb says they make themselves strong in the evil matter. The verse reveals resolve growing around the harmful plan before its makers ask who can see it.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzāq: Strong; firm.
חָזָק
This adjective carries the same seed of strength, showing that the planners are making their purpose feel firm.
ḥăzaq: Be strong; take hold.
חֲזַק
The same root appears in Psalm 27:14, where the KJV renders it “be of good courage”; that verse becomes the Thread.
יְסַפְּרוּ
yĕsapperû
GROWS FROM
ספר
s-p-r
Count; recount; tell.
Beneath “commune” is a verb whose range includes recounting and telling. Their plan is spoken through and elaborated, becoming a shared account rather than remaining an unspoken intention.
ALSO GROWS
sēfer: Book; scroll.
סֵפֶר
A written account grows from the same root of recounting, linking speech with a thing set down and preserved.
mispar: Number; count.
מִסְפָּר
The root’s counting sense adds the texture of details being enumerated as the plan is recounted.
THE PATTERN
A hidden plot draws strength from shared speech, but concealment cannot make it unseen.
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.THE THREAD
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.Psalm 64:5 uses the root חזק (ḥ-z-q), meaning “strengthen,” for people reinforcing themselves around a harmful plan; Psalm 27:14 uses the same root in “be of good courage.” The shared seed is strength, and each verse shows what that strength gathers around.
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