What Does Psalm 65:6 Mean in the King James?
Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power:
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 mountains are set firm by strength, while their establisher is pictured as girded with might.
THE MEANING
The mountains stand fast through the strength of the one girded with might. Their solidity is not self-made; the verse places even mountain-scale permanence in a power that holds firm now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that what seems permanent secures itself.
THE ROOT
מֵכִין
mekhīn
GROWS FROM
כון
k-w-n
To be firm, establish, or prepare.
“setteth fast” in this verse is mekhīn. The verse’s word for setting the mountains fast grows from the root of being made firm and prepared. The mountains’ stability is something established, not something they produce for themselves.
ALSO GROWS
nakhon: Firm, prepared, established.
נָכוֹן
This branch shows the settled condition that results when something is set fast.
konen: To establish or set up.
כּוֹנֵן
This verb branch makes explicit the act of giving something a firm place.
נֶאְזָר
ne’zar
GROWS FROM
אזר
ʾ-z-r
To gird, bind around, or equip.
The one who establishes the mountains is described as girded with might. The image presents strength as something held around the establisher, ready and secured.
ALSO GROWS
azar: To gird or equip.
אָזַר
The verb branch reveals the action behind the image of being girded.
ezor: A belt or girdle.
אֵזוֹר
This related noun makes the surrounding, fastening image of the verse tangible.
גְּבוּרָה
gevurah
GROWS FROM
גבר
g-b-r
To be strong, prevail, or overcome.
“power” in this verse is gevurah. The might here belongs to the root of strength that prevails. The verse pairs that prevailing force with the act of making the mountains firm.
ALSO GROWS
gavar: To be strong or prevail.
גָּבַר
This verb branch shows the active force carried in the word for might.
gibbor: A mighty one or warrior.
גִּבּוֹר
This related word presents prevailing strength in a person, echoing the verse’s image of the one girded with might.
THE PATTERN
What appears fixed is sustained by active strength rather than by itself.
The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;THE THREAD
The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.Psalm 93:1 uses the same Hebrew roots for being girded and being established. It links the might surrounding the establisher with the firmness of what is established, opening the mountain image into a picture of the whole world.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us