What Does Psalm 97:10 Mean in the King James?
Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
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 verse joins love with active opposition to evil, while the LORD’s keeping both guards the living self and pulls it from the wicked’s grasp.
THE MEANING
Love for the LORD stands alongside hatred of evil; the verse does not make those responses opposites. The LORD keeps watch over your living self and delivers you from the wicked’s grasp.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Loving the LORD does not require neutrality toward evil; this verse places hatred of evil beside love and names the LORD as the one who guards and delivers.
THE ROOT
שֹׁמֵר
shomer
GROWS FROM
שׁמר
To keep watch, guard, or attend.
The English “preserveth” can sound like passive safekeeping; שׁמר (shamar, “keep watch, guard”) carries the sense of alert, ongoing care. The verse shows the LORD watching over the living self while also removing it from the wicked’s hand.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: One who watches or keeps.
שֹׁמֵר
This is the form used in the verse: the LORD is pictured as a watcher and keeper.
mishmeret: A guard, charge, or watch.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch presents keeping as an ongoing watch, illuminating the LORD’s attentive protection.
נַפְשׁוֹת
nafshot
GROWS FROM
נפש
The living self: a person, life, or living soul.
“souls” in this verse is nafshot. נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “living soul, person”) names the living self, not an abstract part detached from life. The LORD’s keeping reaches the whole person who is held in the wicked’s grasp.
ALSO GROWS
nefesh: A living soul, person, self, or life.
נֶפֶשׁ
This singular form shows that the “souls” being kept are living selves.
nāphaš: To be refreshed or rested.
נָפַשׁ
This related form connects the living self with restoration, adding depth to what it means for the LORD to preserve a person.
יַצִּילֵם
yaṣṣîlēm
GROWS FROM
נצל
To snatch away, rescue, or remove from another’s grasp.
“delivereth” in this verse is yaṣṣîlēm. The deliverance verb comes from נצל (nāṣal, “rescue, take away”), a root that joins rescue with removal. The image is a living person being drawn out of the wicked’s reach, not merely helped to endure it.
ALSO GROWS
nāṣal: To rescue or take away; in some contexts, to strip off.
נָצַל
The root’s sense of taking away illuminates deliverance as removal from danger or another’s control.
hiṣṣîl: He rescued or delivered; a causative form of the root.
הִצִּיל
The verse uses this active form to say that the LORD delivers them out of the wicked’s hand.
THE PATTERN
The LORD watches over the living self and draws it out from the reach of evil.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.THE THREAD
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.Psalm 121:7 uses the same roots: שׁמר (shamar, “keep watch, guard”) for “preserve,” and נפש (nefesh, “living soul”) for “soul.” It opens this verse into a paired image: the LORD watches over the living self and protects it from evil.
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