What Does Psalm 68:11 Mean in the King James?
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.
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
What the Lord gives does not remain a private word: it becomes a multitude’s announcement.
THE MEANING
What comes from the Lord reaches you as a gift, then moves through many voices until it is heard. The verse holds the giving and the announcing together: the word travels outward in a great host.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that one voice must carry the whole message: the gift becomes public through a multitude of heralds.
THE ROOT
הַמְבַשְּׂרוֹת
hamevaserot
GROWS FROM
בשׂר
basar
Announce or bring tidings.
“published it” in this verse is hamevaserot. English “published” can sound like putting words into print, but הַמְבַשְּׂרוֹת (hamevaserot) means “the women announcing.” The root also appears in words for tidings, so the verse pictures the given word becoming a message carried outward by a host of heralds.
ALSO GROWS
mevaser: A herald, one who announces tidings.
מְבַשֵּׂר
The singular herald makes vivid the announcing role that the verse gives to a multitude.
besorah: Tidings or news.
בְּשׂוֹרָה
This branch names the message as news carried to others, not a word kept private.
יִתֵּן
yitten
GROWS FROM
נתן
natan
Give, set, or place.
“gave” in this verse is yitten. The word arrives as something given and set among people. This root keeps the verse’s first movement clear: the announcement begins with a gift, then spreads through many voices.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This verb is the root’s basic action in the verse: the Lord gives the word.
mattanah: A gift.
מַתָּנָה
This related noun makes the gift-like quality of the word explicit.
THE PATTERN
A word given becomes a public announcement carried by many voices.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!THE THREAD
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!Psalm 68’s הַמְבַשְּׂרוֹת (hamevaserot), “the women announcing,” and Isaiah’s “bringeth good tidings” share the root בשׂר (basar), “announce tidings.” Isaiah opens the image further: the word given becomes news carried outward until it reaches Zion.
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