What Does Psalm 78:51 Mean in the King James?

And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

Psalm 78:51 · 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

The firstborn and “the chief of their strength” converge on one image: the first emergence of a household’s vigor.

THE MEANING

This verse confronts you with every firstborn struck in Mitzrayim (⁨מִצְרַיִם⁩, Mitsrayim, “the two narrows”), naming them as the first emergence of a household’s vigor. It leaves the violence exposed: the blow reaches households at the point where their strength and future are gathered.

THE ROOT

בְּכוֹר

bekhor

GROWS FROM

בכר

b-k-r

To be first or to bring forth first.

The firstborn is connected to first produce, so the verse’s violence reaches what is pictured as a household’s first issue of life. The next phrase repeats that firstness by calling them the beginning of Egypt’s vigor.

ALSO GROWS

bikkurim: Firstfruits, the first produce.

בִּכּוּרִים

This branch makes the firstborn’s place in the verse vivid: they are the household’s first issue, like the first produce of a field.

bekhorah: Firstborn status or birthright.

בְּכוֹרָה

The birthright ties firstness to a household’s identity and future, deepening what is at stake in the blow.

רֵאשִׁית

reshit

GROWS FROM

ראש

Head, beginning, or foremost point.

The phrase ⁨רֵאשִׁית אוֹנִים⁩ (reshit onim, “beginning of vigor”) makes the firstborn more than the eldest: they stand for the first emergence of a household’s strength. English separates “firstborn” from “chief,” while the Hebrew repeats the language of firstness.

ALSO GROWS

rosh: Head or foremost part.

רֹאשׁ

This branch shows the sense of “chief” as what stands at the head or forefront.

bereshit: At the beginning.

בְּרֵאשִׁית

This branch carries the same beginning sense that links “chief of their strength” to the firstborn.

THE PATTERN

Scripture concentrates a household’s beginning, strength, or identity in the firstborn.

And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

Exodus 12:29 · KJVThe strike reaches every firstborn from Pharaoh’s house to the captive’s, exposing how much the household’s order and future rest on them.

And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

Exodus 4:22 · KJV“Firstborn” names Israel’s identity and relation, extending the word beyond birth order.

Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

Hebrews 11:28 · KJVThe firstborn remain the lives at stake in the Passover, keeping the violence of the verse present in the passage’s retelling.

THE THREAD

Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

Genesis 49:3 · KJV

Genesis uses the same Hebrew word for “firstborn” and pairs it with “the beginning of my strength.” That pairing opens Psalm 78:51: its “chief of their strength” names the firstborn as the beginning of a household’s vigor.

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