What Does Psalm 86:1 Mean in the King James?

A Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.

Psalm 86:1 · 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 Hebrew places “answer me” beside “poor,” letting the speaker’s need rise inside the plea for a response.

THE MEANING

This prayer speaks from need: you ask for an answer while naming yourself poor and needy. Your need is spoken within the appeal to the LORD, without being hidden or dressed up.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that you must first have strength or resources before you can address God; the speaker names poverty and need within the prayer itself.

THE ROOT

עֲנֵנִי

ʿanēnî

GROWS FROM

ענה

In the answer/respond sense, ⁨ענה⁩ (ʿānāh) means to answer or respond.

“hear me” in this verse is ʿanēnî. The Hebrew asks, more specifically, “answer me”: the plea reaches beyond being heard to a response. The nearby ⁨עָנִי⁩ (ʿānî, poor or afflicted) echoes this sound and comes from the distinct afflict/humble sense of ⁨ענה⁩ (ʿānāh), setting response beside affliction without collapsing the two meanings.

ALSO GROWS

maʿaneh: Answer, response.

מַעֲנֶה

This noun makes the plea’s force explicit: it asks for an answering response, not only that words be heard.

ʿoneh: One who answers; answering.

עֹנֶה

This form names the responder, showing that the appeal is directed toward an answering presence.

THE PATTERN

A call made from need meets an answering attention that moves toward the caller.

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

Psalm 34:6 · KJVThe poor person’s cry is heard and met with deliverance.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1 · KJVThe LORD’s attention inclines toward the speaker’s cry, as this prayer asks.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:13 · KJVThe promise extends the call and deliverance pattern to whoever calls on the Lord.

THE THREAD

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

Psalm 34:6 · KJV

This verse uses the same Hebrew word ⁨עָנִי⁩ (ʿānî, poor or afflicted) for the person who cries and is heard. The shared word ties the speaker’s named condition to a cry that reaches the LORD.

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