What Does Psalm 97:1 Mean in the King James?
The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
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 LORD’s reign reaches the earth’s farthest edges, drawing even the distant islands into its joy.
THE MEANING
The LORD reigns now, and that reign reaches beyond the places the reader can see from the center. The earth and its distant islands belong within the same field of gladness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This dissolves the idea that the goodness of God’s rule belongs only to those near its center; the verse includes even faraway islands in the earth’s joy.
THE ROOT
מָלָךְ
malakh
GROWS FROM
מלך
m-l-k
To rule as king, to reign.
“reigneth” in this verse is malakh. The verb shares its root with the Hebrew words for “king” and “kingdom”: kingship is the living action named here. Its reach opens outward until even the far islands are included in the earth’s gladness.
ALSO GROWS
melek: King; the one who reigns.
מֶלֶךְ
The ruler and the act of reigning share the same root, joining the LORD’s identity with the action named in the verse.
mamlakhah: Kingdom; realm or rule.
מַמְלָכָה
The same root names the sphere of kingship, while this verse pictures the LORD’s reign reaching across the earth and its distant islands.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s reign draws joy outward until even creation’s distant edges are included.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.THE THREAD
The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.Both verses use מָלַךְ (malakh, to reign). Psalm 93 places that reign beside the world’s stability; Psalm 97 shows the same reign reaching outward as joy, even to the distant islands.
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