What Does Psalm 78:17 Mean in the King James?
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
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 Hebrew says they added to their missing by rebelling, the resistance deepens through repetition.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks now to the way need and provision do not by themselves end resistance to the Most High. “Yet more” marks repeated missing that deepens into rebellion, even in the wilderness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that receiving provision automatically turns a person toward the giver; provision and resistance can coexist.
THE ROOT
לַמְרוֹת
lamrot
GROWS FROM
מרה
m-r-h
To rebel, resist, or act contrary.
The root names rebellion, while “provoking” carries the effect that rebellion has on the relationship. The verse describes active resistance to the Most High, not merely a passing flare of irritation.
ALSO GROWS
mamrim: Rebellious
מַמְרִים
This form uses the same root to name a rebellious stance, echoing the resistance in this verse.
meri: Rebellion
מְרִי
The noun makes explicit the posture carried by the verb translated “provoking.”
וַיּוֹסִיפוּ
wayyosifu
GROWS FROM
יסף
y-s-f
To add, increase, or do again.
“yet more” in this verse is wayyosifu. The Hebrew expresses more than degree: they “added” again to their missing. Repetition becomes part of the action, so the verse depicts a growing rupture rather than a lone lapse.
ALSO GROWS
Yosef: He adds; may he add
יוֹסֵף
The name carries the same seed of adding, making visible the root beneath “yet more.”
musaf: Added; additional
מוּסָף
This word for something added shares the root and reinforces the sense of accumulation in the verse.
לַחֲטֹא
lachato
GROWS FROM
חטא
ḥ-ṭ-ʾ
To miss or fail to reach what is intended.
The root lets “sinned” carry the added sense of missing the mark. Joined to “added,” it shows repeated missing accumulating into resistance.
ALSO GROWS
ḥattat: Missing or offense; also an offering for the missing
חַטָּאת
The branch keeps the idea of missing visible even where English uses the familiar language of sin.
maḥti: One who causes another to miss
מַחְטִיא
This causative branch shows how missing can be multiplied or extended beyond a single act.
THE PATTERN
Provision or revelation can reach a person while resistance still recurs and compounds.
Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.THE THREAD
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!The verb translated “provoke” comes from the same root, מרה (marah, rebel), as in verse 17. This echo extends “yet more” into a recurring pattern of resistance in the wilderness.
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