What Does Psalm 78:12 Mean in the King James?

Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

Psalm 78:12 · KJV

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

Hebrew names one ⁨פֶּלֶא⁩ (pele, wonder) where English says “marvellous things”: one extraordinary disclosure appears inside Egypt, the narrow place.

THE MEANING

You are shown the extraordinary in full view, in the place of constriction. The verse gathers many sights into one ⁨פֶּלֶא⁩ (pele, wonder): what exceeds the ordinary is already present within the narrow place.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that wonder can appear only after you escape the narrow place dissolves here: the wonder appears within it.

THE ROOT

פֶּלֶא

pele

GROWS FROM

פלא

p-l-ʾ

To be extraordinary, beyond ordinary measure.

The Hebrew uses the singular ⁨פֶּלֶא⁩ (pele, wonder), while the KJV renders it as “marvellous things.” The root gathers the sights into one disclosure that exceeds the ordinary.

ALSO GROWS

niphla: Wonderful, extraordinary.

נִפְלָא

It carries the same sense of what exceeds ordinary measure, showing that the wonder here is a quality of the event, not merely its impressiveness.

niphlaʾot: Wonders, wondrous acts.

נִפְלָאוֹת

This plural branch shows how one root can name many acts of wonder, while this verse gathers them into a singular ⁨פֶּלֶא⁩.

מִצְרַיִם

Mitsrayim

GROWS FROM

צ־ר־ר

ṣ-r-r

To press, bind, or constrict; ⁨צַר⁩ names what is narrow or tight.

Mitsrayim is heard here through ⁨צַר⁩ (tsar, narrow) and ⁨מֵצַר⁩ (meitzar, strait), with the ending -ayim carrying the image of two narrows. The ⁨פלא⁩ appears inside that constriction, making Egypt part of the verse’s movement from narrowness toward release.

ALSO GROWS

tsar: Narrow, tight, constricting.

צַר

It brings the name Egypt close to the verse’s image of a confined place.

meitzar: A strait or narrow place.

מֵצַר

It makes the setting’s constriction visible: the wonder is disclosed in the narrow place itself.

THE PATTERN

Wonder becomes visible among people through acts they can see or hear.

And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.

Exodus 3:20 · KJVThe wonders occur in Egypt’s midst, where the act of wonder becomes the means by which release follows.

Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

Psalm 77:14 · KJVWonder is declared among people, making divine strength visible beyond the place where it first appears.

Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Acts 2:11 · KJVThe works of God are heard across different tongues, carrying the disclosure of wonder among many people.

THE THREAD

And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.

Exodus 3:20 · KJV

The Hebrew ⁨נִפְלְאֹתַי⁩ (niphleʾotai, my wonders) comes from the same root ⁨פלא⁩ (p-l-ʾ, to be extraordinary) as the singular ⁨פֶּלֶא⁩ (pele, wonder) here. Exodus adds the movement that Psalm 78:12 leaves just beyond the frame: the wonder appears in the midst of Egypt, then release follows.

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