What Does Psalm 35:27 Mean?
Let them ring out for joy and be glad, those who delight in my alignment; and let them say continually, Let the LORD grow great, who delights in the wholeness of his servant.
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
Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.THE KEY
The same Hebrew word describes both those who favor the speaker’s just cause and the LORD who delights in the servant’s wholeness.
THE MEANING
The verse holds justice and well-being together: those who favor your just cause rejoice, and their continual praise magnifies the LORD. The LORD delights in your shalom, the wholeness and well-being of his servant.
THE ROOT
חֲפֵצֵי
ḥăp̄ēṣê
GROWS FROM
חפץ
ḥ-p-ṣ
To desire, delight in, or take pleasure in.
“delight in my alignment” in this verse is ḥăp̄ēṣê. English uses “favour” for the people and “hath pleasure” for the LORD, but both come from the same root חפץ (ḥ-p-ṣ, desire or delight). The verse places human delight in the speaker’s justice beside the LORD’s delight in the servant’s well-being.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēp̄eṣ: Desire, delight, pleasure; something desired.
חֵפֶץ
This noun shows that the root carries an orientation toward what is desired, illuminating the people’s favor as active delight.
Ḥep̄ṣî-bāh: “My delight is in her.”
חֶפְצִי־בָהּ
The name in Isaiah 62:4 uses this root to name the LORD’s delight in the one addressed, echoing the LORD’s pleasure in his servant here.
שְׁלוֹם
šəlôm
GROWS FROM
שלם
š-l-m
To be complete, whole, or sound; hence, well-being.
The servant’s “prosperity” is described with shalom, a word that holds wholeness and well-being. The LORD’s delight reaches the servant’s whole condition.
ALSO GROWS
šālôm: Wholeness, well-being, welfare, peace.
שָׁלוֹם
This is the word in the verse: the LORD delights in the servant’s shalom.
šālēm: Whole, complete, intact.
שָׁלֵם
This related form shows the wholeness within shalom and opens “prosperity” toward the servant’s full well-being.
צִדְקִי
ṣidqî
GROWS FROM
צדק
ṣ-d-q
To be right or just, in due alignment.
“alignment” in this verse is ṣidqî. The speaker’s cause is expressed through the root of justice and rightness. The people’s delight is directed toward a claim of just order, placing their joy alongside the LORD’s delight in the servant’s wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
ṣedeq: Justice, rightness, alignment.
צֶדֶק
This noun names the root quality in the speaker’s “righteous cause.”
ṣaddîq: Just, righteous; one who is right.
צַדִּיק
This related form carries the same root into a description of a person, linking the cause to the one whose standing is being vindicated.
THE PATTERN
A just cause and the servant’s wholeness belong inside the same language of delight.
But his delight is in the instruction of the LORD; and over his instruction he murmurs day and night.You shall no more be called Left Behind, and your land shall no more be called Stunned; but you shall be called Hephzibah, my delight is in her, and your land Beulah, wedded; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be wed.Do not tremble, little flock, for your Father delights to give you the governance.THE THREAD
You shall no more be called Left Behind, and your land shall no more be called Stunned; but you shall be called Hephzibah, my delight is in her, and your land Beulah, wedded; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be wed.The same root חפץ (ḥ-p-ṣ, desire or delight) describes those who favor the speaker’s cause and the LORD who delights in the servant. Isaiah’s “Hephzibah”, “my delight is in her”, sets that delight against the names “Forsaken” and “Desolate,” revealing a belonging that those names had concealed.
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