What Does Psalm 77:16 Mean in the King James?
The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.
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 waters’ “fear” is a bodily convulsion: the deep itself writhes as it beholds God.
THE MEANING
The waters see God and writhe; even the depths tremble. God’s presence reaches what seems vast and impersonal, and nothing in the reader’s deepest life is beyond response to that presence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The deepest forces are impersonal and untouched by God’s presence.
THE ROOT
יָחִילוּ
yāḥîlû from ḥûl
GROWS FROM
חוּל
ḥûl
to whirl or writhe; by extension, to tremble or travail
The word translated “were afraid” can carry the bodily sense of writhing or travailing. The same root branches into whirling dance, so the waters’ response is pictured as movement within the deep, not only as an emotion.
ALSO GROWS
māḥōl: A dance, often understood as a whirling dance.
מָחוֹל
This branch shows the root’s movement can be forceful and embodied, giving the waters’ reaction a physical shape.
ḥōlaltā: Brought forth or born.
חוֹלַלְתָּ
The root’s travail sense links the waters’ convulsion with the strain of bringing something forth.
רָאוּךָ
rāʾûkā they saw
GROWS FROM
ראה
rāʾāh
to see, look at, or perceive
“saw” in this verse is rāʾûkā they saw. The verse gives the waters the act of seeing. This root also forms words for a seer and for an appearance, joining the perceiver with what is seen: the waters are witnesses to God’s presence, not just scenery.
ALSO GROWS
rōʾeh: One who sees or perceives.
רֹאֶה
This branch gives the waters’ seeing the quality of perception, not merely a visual detail.
marʾeh: An appearance or what is seen.
מַרְאֶה
The same root spans the act of seeing and the visible appearance before the seer.
יִרְגְּזוּ
yirgezû they trembled
GROWS FROM
רגז
rāgaz
to quake, tremble, or become agitated
“were troubled” in this verse is yirgezû they trembled. The final verb gives the depths a quake, not just a vague unease. This root can describe bodily trembling and inner agitation, holding the physical disturbance and alarm together.
ALSO GROWS
rōgez: Agitation, rage, or trembling.
רֹגֶז
The noun keeps emotional disturbance close to the root’s physical shaking.
margîz: One who shakes or agitates.
מַרְגִּיז
This causative branch shows the root can describe not only trembling, but also the force that sets something trembling.
THE PATTERN
When God is perceived or speaks, creation’s most powerful forces respond with movement.
The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!THE THREAD
The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.Habakkuk repeats the same roots for “saw” and “writhed.” It extends the image from the waters to the mountains, then gives the deep a voice: creation itself answers God’s presence.
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