What Does Psalm 98:7 Mean in the King James?
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
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 Hebrew word for the sea’s roar also means thunder, so the verse hears creation’s praise as a world-filling sound.
THE MEANING
The sea, everything within it, the world, and its inhabitants all belong to one response. Praise is not confined to human voices; the created world itself participates.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The world is only silent scenery, and praise belongs to human voices alone.
THE ROOT
יִרְעַם
yir'am
GROWS FROM
רעם
To thunder, rumble, or roar.
The sea’s roar comes from the same root as thunder, giving its sound a forceful, crashing quality. The verse presents creation’s praise as something that resounds through the whole world.
ALSO GROWS
ra'am: Thunder, a rumbling sound.
רַעַם
This noun makes audible the same thunderous sound carried by the sea’s roar.
hir'im: Made to thunder or roar.
הִרְעִים
This verb form shows the root describing the act of producing a thunderous sound.
וּמְלֹאוֹ
umelo'o
GROWS FROM
מלא
To be full or to fill.
“fulness thereof” in this verse is umelo'o. The phrase names the sea by its fullness: its extent and all that it contains. Paired with the roar, the verse gives voice to the sea together with its full contents.
ALSO GROWS
melo: Fullness, contents.
מְלֹא
It names what fills the sea, widening the image beyond the water’s surface.
mille: To fill.
מִלֵּא
This form shares the root of “fulness” and emphasizes the sea as filled throughout.
THE PATTERN
The created world is not mute scenery: it voices praise, joy, and travail before God.
Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.THE THREAD
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.Psalm 96:11 repeats the same pairing: the sea roars with all its fullness. Both verses use יִרְעַם (yir’am), from רעם, so the sea’s thunderous voice belongs to a recurring picture of creation answering God.
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