What Does Psalm 48:5 Mean?
They saw it, and so they were stunned; they were shaken, and fled in haste.
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
They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.THE KEY
The verse makes fear visible as motion: their alarm has a direction, and it is away.
THE MEANING
When what stands before you becomes undeniable, amazement can turn to dismay, and dismay can become flight. The verse shows alarm not only as a feeling but as a force that moves the body.
THE ROOT
נִבְהֲלוּ
nibhálu
GROWS FROM
בהל
b-h-l
To become alarmed, dismayed, or suddenly unsettled.
“shaken” in this verse is nibhálu. The root carries both inner shock and the impulse to hurry. That makes the next action, hastening away, feel like alarm becoming motion, not a separate response.
ALSO GROWS
behalah: Sudden alarm or terror.
בְּהָלָה
The noun makes clear that the trouble here is a sharp shock, not mild unease.
nivhal: Alarmed or hasty.
נִבְהָל
This form joins dismay with haste, echoing how the verse moves from being troubled to fleeing.
נֶחְפָּזוּ
neḥpāzu
GROWS FROM
חפז
ḥ-p-z
To hurry or flee in alarm.
“fled in haste” in this verse is neḥpāzu. The root gives their departure the feel of urgent flight, not measured retreat. The fear has taken over their pace.
ALSO GROWS
ḥippāzōn: Haste or urgent departure.
חִפָּזוֹן
This noun preserves the hurried quality carried by “hasted away.”
neḥpāz: One who is hurrying or acting in haste.
נֶחְפָּז
This form describes haste as a state overtaking a person, as it does here.
תָּמְהוּ
tāmehū
GROWS FROM
תמה
t-m-h
To be astonished or left perplexed.
“were stunned” in this verse is tāmehū. The astonishment is not the end of the response: wonder gives way to dismay and then flight. English can make “marvelled” sound settled, while the verse carries it into a rising disturbance.
ALSO GROWS
tamah: To be astonished or perplexed.
תָּמַהּ
The verb names the first response as bewilderment at what is seen.
timmahon: Astonishment or bewilderment.
תִּמָּהוֹן
This noun shows that the root can name the unsettled condition that follows a startling sight.
THE PATTERN
An overwhelming sight can turn astonishment into alarm and alarm into flight.
And I, Daniel, alone saw the sight, for the men who were with me did not see the sight; but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves.And look, the messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the weight of the Lord shone around them, and they were seized with great fear.And from fear of him the guards were shaken, and became as dead men.THE THREAD
Then the chiefs of Edom shall be startled; shuddering shall take hold of the rams of Moab; all the dwellers of Canaan shall melt.The Hebrew root בָּהַל (bahal, to become alarmed or suddenly dismayed) appears in both verses, rendered “amazed” in Exodus and “troubled” here. The shared root lets you hear the alarm already stirring inside what English presents as mere amazement.
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