What Does Psalm 66:19 Mean in the King James?
But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
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 pairs hearing with focused attention, so prayer is received as a voice God heeds, not merely sound that registers.
THE MEANING
Your prayer is heard and attended to: the verse holds reception and focused attention together. Its voice is not treated as empty sound; it meets a listener who gives it heed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the specific fear that your prayer reaches God as sound but receives no attention.
THE ROOT
הִקְשִׁיב
hiqshiv
GROWS FROM
קשב
qashab
To give heed or listen attentively.
English can make “heard” and “attended” sound like repetitions, but the Hebrew pairs two distinct listening verbs. The second adds focused attention: the prayer’s voice is not merely audible; it is heeded.
ALSO GROWS
haqshivu: Give heed; listen closely.
הַקְשִׁיבוּ
Isaiah 28:23 places this form beside “hear my voice,” much as this verse pairs focused attention with hearing.
maqshiv: One who listens or gives heed.
מַקְשִׁיב
Proverbs 29:12 uses this form for a ruler who heeds lies; the root describes where attention is directed, while this verse directs it toward prayer.
שָׁמַע
shamaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
shamaʿ
To hear, listen, or heed.
“heard” in this verse is shamaʿ. This root holds hearing and heed together, a connection preserved in the call “Hear, O Israel” (shema). Beside qashab, it makes the verse’s assurance twofold: the prayer is received, then given attention.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
Deuteronomy 6:4 uses this form in “Hear, O Israel”; hearing carries an active edge that deepens the word “heard” here.
shemuah: A report or message heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
Isaiah 53:1 calls the message a shemuah, showing the same word-family can name both hearing and what is heard.
THE PATTERN
Prayer is pictured across Scripture as a cry God hears and attends to.
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:THE THREAD
The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.The Hebrew verb behind “he heareth” is שמע (shamaʿ), the same root as “heard” in Psalm 66:19. Proverbs makes explicit that the voice in this verse is prayer itself: the root of hearing meets תְּפִלָּה (tefillah, prayer).
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