What Does Psalm 22:28 Mean?
For the governance is the LORD's, and he rules among 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
For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.THE KEY
The nations themselves stand within the active reach of the LORD’s reign.
THE MEANING
The nations themselves stand within the reach of the LORD’s reign. His rule is present among peoples, while kingship belongs to him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The LORD’s governance is confined to one people or sacred place.
THE ROOT
הַמְּלוּכָה
hamelukhah
GROWS FROM
מָלַךְ
malakh
to reign, be king
“governance” in this verse is hamelukhah. The word translated “kingdom” can name kingship or reign as well as the realm under it. Set beside the word for governor, it holds the LORD’s sovereignty and its active expression among the nations together.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: king
מֶלֶךְ
The king is the figure who embodies the kingship named in this verse.
mamlakhah: kingdom, realm of rule
מַמְלָכָה
This branch connects the same root to the domain over which rule extends.
מֹשֵׁל
moshel
GROWS FROM
מָשַׁל
mashal
to rule, govern, exercise authority
“rules” in this verse is moshel. The word rendered “governor” describes one who exercises rule. Its placement “among the nations” gives the LORD’s authority an active reach among peoples.
ALSO GROWS
mashal: to rule, govern
מָשַׁל
The verb makes explicit the action carried by the governor in this verse.
memshalah: dominion, government
מֶמְשָׁלָה
This branch names the sphere or exercise of authority associated with the governor.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s kingship expresses itself as active governance across peoples and realms.
God reigns over the nations; God sits upon his set-apart throne.This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the request by the word of the set-apart ones, so that the living may perceive that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he wills, and raises up over it the lowest of humankind.And Jesus came near and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in the heavens and upon the earth.THE THREAD
The LORD sets his throne firm in the heavens, and his governance rules over all.Psalm 103:19 pairs מַלְכוּת (malkhut, kingship or kingdom) with מָשַׁל (mashal, rule or govern), the same two root families carried by “kingdom” and “governor” here. It extends that pairing from the nations to the heavens and “over all.”
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us