What Does Psalm 83:5 Mean in the King James?
For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
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 reveals a progression from shared counsel to one heart to a covenant they cut against you.
THE MEANING
The verse names coordinated opposition: people consult, align their hearts, and cut a pact against you. The threat is organized and intentional, not a passing disagreement.
THE ROOT
בְּרִית יִכְרֹתוּ
berit yikhrotu
GROWS FROM
כרת
karat
to cut; to cut off
“confederate” in this verse is berit yikhrotu. The Hebrew phrase says they cut a covenant, giving the confederacy the force of a binding agreement. This root also carries the sense of being cut off, so binding and severance share the language of cutting.
ALSO GROWS
karat: to cut; to cut off
כָּרַת
This is the verb behind the pact they make against you.
nikhrat: to be cut off
נִכְרַת
The same root can name severance, showing another side of the cutting image.
נוֹעֲצוּ
no'atsu
GROWS FROM
יעץ
ya'ats
to advise, counsel, or deliberate
“consulted together” in this verse is no'atsu. The verse begins with counsel before it names the covenant: the opposition takes shape through deliberate planning before it is bound by agreement. The shared counsel is part of the threat’s mechanism.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēṣāh: counsel, advice, or plan
עֵצָה
The noun names the counsel that the verb in this verse describes people forming together.
yōʿēṣ: counselor or adviser
יוֹעֵץ
This branch names one who gives counsel, linking the shared plan to the people shaping it.
THE PATTERN
Opposition gathers force when people join their counsel and coordinate their intent.
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,THE THREAD
There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.The counsel word here belongs to the same root family as “consulted” in Psalm 83:5. Set beside the many plans in the human heart, the verse distinguishes a united plan from the counsel that stands.
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