What Does Psalm 72:5 Mean in the King James?
They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
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 sun and moon are not scenery here; they mark the span of time across which awe of God continues.
THE MEANING
Awe toward God reaches beyond any one lifetime: the sun and moon mark the continuing span, and generation follows generation. The verse places the reader within that ongoing horizon, where reverence is carried through time rather than confined to one moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the idea that awe of God is only a fleeting, private feeling; the verse presents it as enduring across generations.
THE ROOT
יִירָאוּךָ
yirā’ûkha
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“fear” in this verse is yirā’ûkha. The verb here carries awe toward God, not merely alarm. The verse measures that awe against the sun’s course, the moon’s return, and generation after generation, making recurring time the scale of its reach.
ALSO GROWS
yir’ah: Awe, fear, reverence
יִרְאָה
This noun shows the same root holding both fear and reverence together, illuminating the depth of the response named in the verse.
nora: Awe-inspiring, fearsome
נוֹרָא
This form of the root appears in Psalm 89:7, where God is described as greatly to be feared; it links the verse’s enduring awe to the shared reverence of a community.
THE PATTERN
Awe before God spans both creation’s recurring cycles and the succession of human generations.
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.THE THREAD
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.Psalm 89:7 uses the same root ירא (yare, to fear or stand in awe) for God as the one greatly to be feared. Psalm 72:5 stretches that same awe across celestial cycles and generations; Psalm 89 places it among those gathered around God.
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