What Does Psalm 113:7 Mean?
He raises the bowed one from the dust, and lifts the one in want from the ash heap;
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 raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;THE KEY
The verse repeats the ascent in two different roots: the poor are made to stand and the needy are raised to height.
THE MEANING
The one reading from a place of poverty or humiliation is not fixed there: God raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from what is cast off. The paired verbs give the movement twice, from the lowest ground to standing and then to height.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that poverty or humiliation defines a person’s final stature. Here, low position is not permanent and does not name the person’s worth.
THE ROOT
מְקִימִי
meqimi
GROWS FROM
קום
to rise, stand, or be established
“raises” in this verse is meqimi. The first verb means to cause someone to rise, not merely to move them to a higher spot. The same root carries both arising and being established, so this raising restores standing as well as position.
ALSO GROWS
qam: arose; stood
קָם
The poor person is brought into the state of standing, rather than remaining face down in the dust.
heqim: raised; established
הֵקִים
This causative form joins lifting someone up with establishing them in a new position.
יָרִים
yarim
GROWS FROM
רום
to be high or rise up
“lifts” in this verse is yarim. The second verb comes from the root for height, giving the needy more than escape from the ash heap: the movement is toward an elevated place. The root’s branches link lifting with what is raised and presented.
ALSO GROWS
ram: high; exalted
רָם
This branch names the height toward which the needy person is lifted.
terumah: a contribution or offering lifted and presented
תְּרוּמָה
The raised offering shows how this root can mark something as set apart through its upward movement.
THE PATTERN
God’s raising takes those at the lowest point and gives them a new standing and stature.
He raises the bowed from the dust, and lifts the one in want from the ash heap, to seat them among the openhanded, and to make them hold the seat of weight. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he sets the world upon them.He lifts me out of a roaring pit, out of the clinging mud, and sets my feet on rock, and sets my steps firm.He has pulled the mighty down from their seats, and lifted up the low.THE THREAD
He raises the bowed from the dust, and lifts the one in want from the ash heap, to seat them among the openhanded, and to make them hold the seat of weight. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he sets the world upon them.The same roots for causing to rise (קום, qum, rise or stand) and lifting high (רום, rum, be high or rise) carry the low person from refuse into standing. The added destination among princes and heirs opens the ascent into restored place and inheritance.
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