What Does Psalm 90:11 Mean in the King James?
Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
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
God’s anger is measured against the awe he commands, and the question exposes how little any human measure can contain.
THE MEANING
You cannot measure the force of God’s anger by your own scale; the question makes that limit part of the verse. Its second line binds God’s wrath to the awe due to God, leaving their full measure beyond your grasp.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
God’s anger is mild enough to fit your own estimate of it.
THE ROOT
אַפֶּךָ
appékha
GROWS FROM
אף
af
Nose or nostril; the same Hebrew word also means anger or heat.
Hebrew uses the same word for the nose and for anger, preserving a bodily image that English hides. The phrase erekh appayim, “slow to anger,” pictures the nostrils as slow to flare; here the verse asks who can measure the force of that anger.
ALSO GROWS
af: Nose or nostril; also anger.
אַף
It carries the bodily image of anger as heat in the nostrils.
erekh appayim: Long of nostrils; slow to anger.
אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם
It shows how the same word for nostrils gives Hebrew a physical way to speak of anger held back.
עֶבְרָתֶךָ
ʿevrātekha
GROWS FROM
עבר
ʿavar
To cross over, pass beyond, or go across.
The word for wrath grows from a root of crossing or passing beyond, so anger here carries the sense of an outburst that overflows its bounds. The image adds movement and force to what English can make sound like a settled feeling.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāvar: To cross over or pass by.
עָבַר
It supplies the root image of movement beyond a boundary.
ʿever: The other side or beyond.
עֵבֶר
It shares the root’s sense of crossing over and makes the force implied in עֶבְרָה (ʿevrah, wrath) easier to see.
יִרְאָתְךָ
yirʾātekha
GROWS FROM
ירא
yare
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
Because the verse speaks of awe toward God, fear here holds more than alarm: it is recognition of a presence and power beyond one’s own measure. The parallel with wrath binds that awe to the very force no one fully knows.
ALSO GROWS
yare: To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
יָרֵא
It is the root verb beneath יִרְאָה (yirʾah, fear or awe) in the verse.
nora: Awe-inspiring or to be feared.
נוֹרָא
This form appears in Psalm 76:7, where awe and anger are joined in a question about who can stand before God.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents divine anger as a force no human can face or fully measure.
Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.THE THREAD
Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?Its word נוֹרָא (nora, awe-inspiring) comes from ירא (yare, fear or awe), the same root as יִרְאָתְךָ (yirʾātekha, your fear or awe) here. It pairs that awe with אַפֶּךָ (appékha, your anger) and asks who can stand before it, making Psalm 90’s question visible as a limit on human comprehension.
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