What Does Psalm 72:18 Mean in the King James?
Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.
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 wonders are not one power among many: the LORD does them alone.
THE MEANING
The LORD is the God of Israel, whose action reaches beyond what you can make or explain. The verse gives you words to bless the One whose wonders have no rival.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the LORD’s wondrous work is only one power among several: the verse says the LORD does these wonders alone.
THE ROOT
נִפְלָאוֹת
niflaʾot
GROWS FROM
פ־ל־א
p-l-ʾ
To be extraordinary or marvelous, beyond the ordinary.
The word translated “wondrous things” grows from the same root as the Hebrew word for a wonder or marvel. The verse points to acts so extraordinary that they exceed ordinary explanation.
ALSO GROWS
pele: Wonder, marvel
פֶּלֶא
This related word makes explicit that the LORD’s deeds are themselves wonders.
palaʾ: To be extraordinary, marvelous
פָּלָא
The verb carries the quality behind the deeds: they surpass what is ordinary.
לְבַדּוֹ
levaddo
GROWS FROM
ב־ד־ד
b-d-d
To be alone or apart.
“Only” carries the sense of being alone, apart from others. It does more than intensify the claim: it names the LORD as the one who acts without a rival in these wonders.
ALSO GROWS
badad: Alone, apart
בָּדָד
The root’s sense of separateness makes the exclusivity in this verse concrete.
badad: To dwell alone or apart
בָּדָד
The same root can describe being apart; here that separation marks the LORD’s unmatched action.
בָּרוּךְ
barukh
GROWS FROM
ב־ר־ך
b-r-k
To bless; the related noun also means knee.
“blessed” in this verse is barukh. The word for blessing is connected with the knee, bringing the posture of kneeling into the word’s background. Here blessing is the response that recognizes the LORD’s unmatched deeds.
ALSO GROWS
barakh: To bless
בָּרַךְ
This is the verb behind the verse’s opening declaration of blessing.
berekh: Knee
בֶּרֶךְ
This related word gives the root’s bodily image of bending the knee.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s unmatched wonders become the ground of praise.
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.THE THREAD
Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.The same Hebrew root פ־ל־א (p-l-ʾ), meaning “to be extraordinary,” appears in both verses’ language of wonders. Psalm 72 says the LORD does them alone; Psalm 77 shows those wonders making the LORD’s strength known.
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