What Does Psalm 72:1 Mean in the King James?
A Psalm for Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
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 asks for judgment and alignment to be given to authority, making rule a receiving before it is an exercising.
THE MEANING
The authority you carry, or live under, is answerable to wisdom it does not create. Judgment and alignment are pictured as received gifts for rule, so a title alone cannot make power just.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that holding authority by itself makes a person’s decisions right.
THE ROOT
תֵּן
tēn
GROWS FROM
נתן
Give, set, place.
The request begins with תֵּן (tēn, “give”), from נתן (n-t-n; nātan, “give, set, place”). Judgment is asked to be placed into the king; authority is shown first as something received, not something that makes itself wise.
ALSO GROWS
nātan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
The root preserves the concrete sense of something being placed into another’s hands.
mattānāh: Gift.
מַתָּנָה
This branch makes visible the verse’s picture of discernment as given to the ruler.
מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ
mishpāṭekha
GROWS FROM
שפט
Judge, decide, or govern.
“Judgments” in this verse is mishpāṭekha. מִשְׁפָּט (mishpāṭ, “judgment”) belongs to the same root as the act of judging and the person who judges. The verse asks for more than decisions: it asks that the king’s way of governing be shaped by sound judgment.
ALSO GROWS
shāphaṭ: To judge or govern.
שָׁפַט
The judgment requested is meant to become the king’s actual work of ruling.
shōphēṭ: A judge.
שֹׁפֵט
The branch names the person who carries out the judgment the verse asks God to give.
צִדְקָתְךָ
tsidqātekha
GROWS FROM
צדק
Be right or just; alignment.
צְדָקָה (tsĕdāqāh, “righteousness”) carries the sense of being rightly aligned. Paired with judgment, it shows rule as both discerning what is right and remaining aligned with it.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Justice or what is right.
צֶדֶק
This branch links the king’s alignment to the justice his decisions must express.
tsaddiq: Righteous; one who is aligned with what is right.
צַדִּיק
This branch connects the quality requested to the person whose conduct embodies it.
THE PATTERN
Authority becomes just when it receives discernment beyond itself.
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.THE THREAD
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?The request echoes Psalm 72:1 in both its asking for something to be given and its language of judging. In each verse, discernment is received before it becomes the work of rule.
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