What Does Psalm 71:23 Mean in the King James?
My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.
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 Hebrew verb for redemption names a life released, and the verse lets that release reach the lips as song.
THE MEANING
Your nefesh, the living self, is the one God has redeemed, and your lips answer by singing to God. The Hebrew verb behind “rejoice” also means to ring out or cry joyfully, so the song gives the redeemed life a voice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that redemption is only an inward status: here the released living self and the singing lips are joined.
THE ROOT
פָּדִיתָ
padita
GROWS FROM
פדה
padah (פדה): to ransom, redeem, or free from a claim or peril.
“redeemed” in this verse is padita. The root holds redemption and release together: the nefesh is brought out from what held it. Beside the rejoicing lips, the word makes song the sound of a life already released.
ALSO GROWS
padah: To redeem or ransom.
פָּדָה
The base verb shows redemption as an act that brings someone out from what holds them.
podeh: One who redeems or ransoms.
פּוֹדֶה
This form names the one doing the freeing; in the verse, God is the one who has released the living self.
תְּרַנֵּנָה
terannenah
GROWS FROM
רנן
ranan (רנן): to ring out, cry aloud, or sing and shout for joy.
“rejoice” in this verse is terannenah. The Hebrew verb carries the sound of joy itself: rejoicing is a ringing cry, not only an inward feeling. Paired with “sing,” it lets the lips voice what redemption has done.
ALSO GROWS
rinnah: A ringing cry, joyful shout, or song.
רִנָּה
This noun preserves the audible quality of the rejoicing in the verse.
yerannen: He rings out, sings, or shouts for joy.
יְרַנֵּן
The same root makes joy something voiced, as in the lips’ rejoicing here.
נַפְשִׁי
nafshi
GROWS FROM
נפש
nefesh (נפש): the living self, person, or life; the living soul.
“Soul” can sound like a separate inner substance, while nefesh names the living self as a whole. Here it is that very living self that God redeems, joined to the lips that sing.
ALSO GROWS
nafsho: His living soul, self, or life.
נַפְשׁוֹ
This form shows nefesh can name a person’s living self, not only an invisible part.
nefashot: Living souls, lives, or persons.
נְפָשׁוֹת
The plural form shows that nefesh can refer to living persons, clarifying the embodied sense of the verse’s “my soul.”
THE PATTERN
When deliverance brings the living self out of confinement, its answer becomes song.
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;THE THREAD
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.The Hebrew root רנן appears here in the word translated “shout for joy,” echoing the rejoicing lips in Psalm 71:23. Psalm 5 joins that ringing voice to God’s defense; Psalm 71 lets it rise from the living self God has redeemed.
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