What Does Psalm 116:14 Mean?

I make whole my vows to the LORD, now in front of all his people.

Psalm 116:14 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

THE KEY

In Hebrew, “pay” is ⁨אֲשַׁלֵּם⁩ (ashallem, “I will pay, make complete”), from ⁨שׁלם⁩ (shalam, “be whole”), the seed of ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, “wholeness”): the vow is carried to completion in full view of the people.

THE MEANING

A promise made to the LORD reaches its completion when it is carried out, with the community able to witness it. Devotion includes follow-through; the vow is not left as private intention.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that saying a promise is enough: here, the vow remains unfinished until the promised act is carried through.

THE ROOT

אֲשַׁלֵּם

ashallem

GROWS FROM

שׁלם

To be whole or complete; in this verb form, to make good or repay.

“make whole” in this verse is ashallem. The verb shares its root with ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, “wholeness”), holding repayment and completion together. The vow is not merely spoken; it is brought to its promised end before the people.

ALSO GROWS

shalom: Wholeness, well-being

שָׁלוֹם

The same root connects fulfilling a vow with wholeness.

shalem: Whole, complete

שָׁלֵם

It makes clear that “pay” can carry the sense of bringing something to completion.

shillem: To pay, repay, make good

שִׁלֵּם

This verb form shows how the root’s sense of completion becomes the concrete act of repayment.

THE PATTERN

A vow reaches completion when pledged words are carried through before God.

When you vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not linger to make it whole, for the LORD your God will surely seek it from you, and it would be a shortcoming in you.

Deuteronomy 23:21 · SDVThis verse treats delay in paying a vow as leaving the promise unfulfilled before the LORD.

When you vow a vow to God, do not linger to make it whole. For there is no delight in the thick-headed. Make whole what you have vowed.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 · SDVIt joins a spoken vow to its completion in action.

Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not break your oath, but shall pay to the LORD your oaths.

Matthew 5:33 · SDVIt carries the same pattern into the call to perform what has been sworn to the Lord.

THE THREAD

Offer to God thanksgiving, and make whole your vows to the Most High.

Psalm 50:14 · SDV

This verse uses the same Hebrew root ⁨שׁלם⁩ (shalam, “be whole; make good”) for “pay,” alongside the same word for “vows.” Pairing that fulfillment with thanksgiving shows the vow becoming a completed response to God.

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