What Does Psalm 82:8 Mean in the King James?
Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
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 nations God judges are also the inheritance God claims, so no people lies outside that claim.
THE MEANING
The cry for God to set the earth right speaks now, and it reaches every nation. Each people belongs within the scope of God’s judgment and inheritance; none is beyond that reach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that any nation or people stands outside God’s judgment and claim.
THE ROOT
תִּנְחַל
tinḥal n-ḥ-l
GROWS FROM
נחל
To inherit or possess as an allotted share.
“inherit” in this verse is tinḥal n-ḥ-l. The verse describes the nations as God’s inheritance, a share claimed and possessed. The same root gives the word for an inheritance received, joining God’s claim over the nations to the language of what is handed down as one’s own.
ALSO GROWS
naḥalah: Inheritance, allotted possession
נַחֲלָה
This noun from the same root makes the verse’s image concrete: the nations are described as God’s inheritance.
hinḥil: Cause to inherit; allot as an inheritance
הִנְחִיל
This related form shows the root can describe an inheritance being granted or assigned, not only received.
שָׁפְטָה
shofṭāh sh-p-ṭ
GROWS FROM
שפט
To judge, decide, or adjudicate.
The command to judge shares its root with mishpat, judgment and justice. The verse’s demand is for active judgment over the earth, with the root carrying the related idea of an order rendered through adjudication.
ALSO GROWS
mishpat: Judgment, justice, or an adjudicated order
מִשְׁפָּט
This branch links the act of judging to the justice that the judgment establishes.
shofet: Judge; one who adjudicates
שֹׁפֵט
This branch names the one who performs the action commanded in the verse.
קוּמָה
qumah q-w-m
GROWS FROM
קום
To rise, stand, or be established.
“arise” in this verse is qumah q-w-m. The opening call uses a root that can mean both rising and becoming established. The verse’s movement runs from God rising to judge toward God’s established claim over all nations.
ALSO GROWS
qum: Rise or stand
קוּם
This is the basic action in the opening appeal: God is called to rise.
maqom: Place or standing place
מָקוֹם
This related noun connects standing with the place where something is set; the verse’s call to rise moves toward order established across the earth.
heqim: Raise up or establish
הֵקִים
This related form brings out the root’s sense of establishing, which resonates with judgment that sets the earth in order.
THE PATTERN
God’s judgment reaches every people and kingdom, bringing the earth under a rule that extends beyond any single nation.
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.THE THREAD
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.Psalm 2:8 uses the same inheritance root, נחל, found in “inherit” here. One verse declares God’s inheritance to be all nations; the other names the nations and the earth’s farthest reaches as that inheritance.
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