What Does Psalm 34:6 Mean?
This bowed one cries out, and the LORD hears him, and brings him out of all his narrow places.
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
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.THE KEY
The verse’s “saved” is a bringing out: the person is released from the whole field of trouble pressing in.
THE MEANING
When you are brought low, your cry is heard by the LORD, who brings you out of what constricts you. The verse holds the entire movement together: distress, calling, hearing, and deliverance from all that surrounds you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that need or lowliness makes a person invisible to God: this poor person cries and is heard.
THE ROOT
הוֹשִׁיעוֹ
hoshi'o
GROWS FROM
ישע
yasha
Deliver, rescue, bring out of danger or distress.
“brings him out” in this verse is hoshi'o. The verse’s “saved” belongs to the same word family as deliverance and deliverer: rescue is a person being brought out, not an abstract status. That movement answers the whole field of trouble pressing in around him.
ALSO GROWS
yeshu'ah: Deliverance, rescue.
יְשׁוּעָה
The noun for deliverance shares the seed of the rescue happening in the verse.
moshia: One who delivers or rescues.
מוֹשִׁיעַ
The act of bringing someone out and the one who brings them out belong to the same word family.
קָרָא
qara
GROWS FROM
קרא
qara
Call out, summon, proclaim, or name.
“cried” in this verse is qara. The same root can mean calling aloud and naming; here the cry is an addressed appeal, not sound alone. The next movement is that the appeal is heard.
ALSO GROWS
qeri'ah: A call, reading, or recitation.
קְרִיאָה
The voiced appeal in the verse belongs to the same family as a calling or reading aloud.
miqra: A proclamation, reading, or assembly.
מִקְרָא
This branch shows how a call can become a message gathered and received.
שָׁמֵעַ
shomea
GROWS FROM
שמע
shama
Hear, listen, or give heed.
“heard” in this verse is shomea. The root is also present in words for hearing and a report. Because the LORD’s hearing is followed by rescue here, the verse presents hearing as responsive attention, not merely sound reaching an ear.
ALSO GROWS
shemi'ah: Hearing, listening.
שְׁמִיעָה
This branch names the receptive act carried by the verb in the verse.
shemu'ah: A report, tidings, or news.
שְׁמוּעָה
A report is what is heard and received, extending the root’s link between hearing and response.
THE PATTERN
A cry from distress is met by hearing that answers with a way out.
Then they cry out to the LORD in their narrowness, and he snatches them out of their narrow places.For the people will settle in Zion, at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. At the sound of your cry, he will surely show you favor. When he hears and responds, he will answer you.For everyone who calls upon the nature of the LORD will be delivered.THE THREAD
The LORD is near to those whose heart is broken, and delivers those crushed in breath.The Hebrew verb rendered “saveth” here is יוֹשִׁיעַ (yoshi’a, delivers), from ישע (yasha, deliver), the same root as “saved” in this verse. Psalm 34:6 shows deliverance following a cry; verse 18 brings that same deliverance near to the brokenhearted and those crushed in רוּחַ (ruach, breath).
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