What Does Psalm 90:16 Mean in the King James?
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
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 work is asked to come into view now, while his splendor rests on the generation that follows.
THE MEANING
God’s work becomes visible to those who serve, and his splendor rests on their children. What is seen in one generation can become an inheritance of beauty and honor in the next.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that God’s work ends with the generation that first sees it gives way to the hope that his splendor reaches their children.
THE ROOT
וַהֲדָרְךָ
va-hadarekha
GROWS FROM
הדר
hadar
To adorn or honor; splendor, majesty, beauty
The word translated “glory” is hadar, a word for splendor and majesty whose root also means to honor. The line holds together God’s visible beauty and the honor that rests on the children.
ALSO GROWS
hadar: Splendor, majesty, beauty
הָדָר
This is the noun used for God’s glory in the verse, giving that glory the sense of visible splendor.
wehadarta: You shall honor
וְהָדַרְתָּ
In Leviticus 19:32 this same root describes honoring an elder, linking hadar’s splendor with the honor named in its root family.
יֵרָאֶה
yera'eh
GROWS FROM
ראה
ra'ah
To see, look; in this form, to be seen or appear
The form yera’eh comes from ra’ah, “to see,” and can mean “be seen” or “appear.” The verse asks for God’s work to come into view, so its presence is bound up with the seeing of those who serve.
ALSO GROWS
ra'ah: To see, look
רָאָה
The same verb beneath “appear” names the act of seeing, tying the work’s revelation to the servants who behold it.
mar'eh: Appearance, vision
מַרְאֶה
This related form names what is seen, echoing the verse’s movement from God’s work to its appearance.
פָעֳלֶךָ
po'alecha
GROWS FROM
פעל
pa'al
To do, act, work
Po’alecha, “your work,” grows from pa’al, “to do” or “act.” The root foregrounds God’s doing itself: the verse asks for that action to become visible.
ALSO GROWS
po'al: Work, deed
פֹּעַל
This noun from the same root names an accomplished act, keeping the verse’s focus on what God does.
pe'ullah: Work, action, deed
פְּעֻלָּה
This related noun carries the root’s sense of active doing into another form, reinforcing that the verse concerns God’s action made visible.
THE PATTERN
God’s work becomes visible to one generation and is carried forward as testimony to the next.
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.THE THREAD
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.The Hebrew word rendered “honour” here is hadar, the same word rendered “glory” in Psalm 90:16. In both verses, hadar describes splendor resting upon a life.
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