What Does Psalm 9:17 Mean in the King James?
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
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 judgment is framed as a return: forgetting God carries the nations back toward the realm of the dead.
THE MEANING
This verse names a present direction: people who forget God return toward שְׁאוֹל (Sheol, sheʾol: the realm of the dead). Its scope is severe, the nations are named together. The word rendered “turned” carries the sense of “return,” making forgetfulness part of the direction the verse describes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that forgetting God is harmless: here, a nation’s forgetfulness is bound to its return toward the realm of the dead.
THE ROOT
יָשׁוּבוּ
yāshūvū
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
to turn back, return
Under “turned” is a verb meaning “return.” The verse depicts the wicked moving back toward the realm of the dead; the same root can also describe turning toward the LORD, so the direction of return matters.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: return; turn back
שׁוּב
This root is the verb used in the verse and makes its movement explicit.
teshuvah: return; turning
תְּשׁוּבָה
This noun from the same root keeps the idea of return visible beyond this verse.
hēshīv: bring back; restore
הֵשִׁיב
The causative form shows that the root can describe something being brought back, sharpening the verse’s focus on where the return leads.
שְׁכֵחֵי
shokhechei
GROWS FROM
שׁכח
shakhach
to forget
“forget” in this verse is shokhechei. The verse describes the nations as those forgetting God, presenting forgetfulness as a shared condition rather than an incidental lapse. Paired with “return,” it marks the direction of that condition.
ALSO GROWS
shakhach: to forget
שָׁכַח
This is the root verb behind the description of the nations.
nishkach: forgotten
נִשְׁכָּח
This related form shows the same root describing what has passed from remembrance.
shikhchah: forgetfulness
שִׁכְחָה
This noun makes forgetfulness itself visible as a condition named by the root.
THE PATTERN
Forgetting God marks a path toward ruin, while remembering him turns people back toward the LORD.
And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;THE THREAD
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.Psalm 9:17’s “shall be turned” comes from שׁוּב (shuv, return); Psalm 22:27 uses the same root in “turn unto the LORD.” The shared root reveals two directions for the nations: toward the realm of the dead through forgetting, or toward the LORD as they remember.
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