What Does Psalm 111:6 Mean?
He sets forth to his people the strength of his works, that he may give them the inheritance of the nations.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.THE KEY
God puts the power of his works before his people, then gives them an inheritance that no nation’s present possession can place beyond his reach.
THE MEANING
God makes the power of his works known to you, and the inheritance of the nations remains within the reach of his giving. What appears secured by present possession does not define the limits of what he can give.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that whoever holds an inheritance now has the final say over who can receive it.
THE ROOT
הִגִּיד
higgid
GROWS FROM
נגד
n-g-d
To be in front or conspicuous; in a causative form, to declare or make known.
“sets forth” in this verse is higgid. The word for showing belongs to a root whose branches also mean “in front of” and “leader.” The works’ power is brought before the people, made visible as the ground of what they receive.
ALSO GROWS
neged: In front of, opposite
נֶגֶד
The root’s sense of placing something before someone gives “showed” the force of making the works present to view.
nagid: Leader, prince
נָגִיד
A leader is one who stands before others, echoing the root’s movement from being in front to making something known.
נַחֲלָה
nahalah
GROWS FROM
נחל
n-ḥ-l
To inherit or take possession; in causative forms, to assign an inheritance.
This inheritance is a concrete possession given into someone’s keeping. The root holds both receiving what is allotted and assigning that possession, matching the verse’s movement from God’s works to what he gives his people.
ALSO GROWS
nachal: To inherit, take possession
נָחַל
The verb shows inheritance as an act of receiving and possessing, not merely an abstract promise.
hinchil: To cause to inherit, allot as a possession
הִנְחִיל
This causative form makes the giver visible in the root: the inheritance is received because someone assigns it.
THE PATTERN
God’s revealed power grounds the giving of an inheritance beyond the recipients’ present possession.
To drive out nations from before you, greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.And I have given you a land you did not toil for, and cities you did not build, and you settle in them. From vineyards and olive groves you did not plant, you eat.In him we also have been allotted an inheritance, marked out beforehand according to the aim of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will.THE THREAD
I remember the deeds of the LORD; surely I remember your wonders of old.Both verses use מַעֲשֶׂה (maʿaseh, work or deed), from עָשָׂה (ʿasah, do or make), for the LORD’s works. Psalm 111:6 shows their power as inheritance is given; Psalm 77:11 holds those same deeds in remembrance, tying the gift to what God does.
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