What Does Psalm 62:4 Mean?
Only they plot to thrust him down from his height. They love what runs dry. With their mouth they bless, but inwardly they make light of him. Selah.
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 only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.THE KEY
The attack aims to lower the one lifted up, while hiding inside words that sound like blessing.
THE MEANING
You can hear words that sound supportive while the speaker holds an intent to diminish you. The verse names the split plainly: the mouth offers blessing, while inwardly there is a curse. Both layers are held in view at once.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this verse dissolves is that kind words prove goodwill; here, blessing on the lips coexists with inward hostility.
THE ROOT
מִשְּׂאֵתוֹ
miśśəʾētô
GROWS FROM
נשא
nasa
Lift, carry, or bear.
“from his height” in this verse is miśśəʾētô. The word translated “excellency” comes from nasa, the root for lifting and carrying. The plot aims to bring down the one described through the language of being lifted up.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: Lift, carry, or bear.
נָשָׂא
The shared root makes the contrast between his elevated position and their attempt to cast him down more vivid.
nasi: A leader or prince; one raised to a position of authority.
נָשִׂיא
This branch also links being lifted with a person’s standing among others.
massa: A burden or load carried.
מַשָּׂא
The same root can name what is borne, opening a connection between elevation and bearing.
יְבָרְכוּ
yevarekhu
GROWS FROM
ברך
barak
Bless; the same word family also names the knee.
“they bless” in this verse is yevarekhu. The verb is barak, whose word family also includes the word for knee. The mouth offers the language of blessing while the inward self holds its opposite, exposing the distance between outward posture and inner intent.
ALSO GROWS
berekh: Knee.
בֶּרֶךְ
This related word gives blessing a bodily association with bending the knee.
berakhah: Blessing.
בְּרָכָה
The noun shares the root of the spoken blessing in this verse.
יְקַלְלוּ
yeqallelû
GROWS FROM
קלל
qalal
Be light or make slight; also, curse.
“make light of him” in this verse is yeqallelû. Qalal can mean to make light of something, as well as to curse. The inward curse therefore echoes the plan to lower the lifted one: both diminish him.
ALSO GROWS
qal: Light or slight.
קַל
This related form shows the root’s sense of diminished weight or importance.
qelalah: Curse.
קְלָלָה
This noun names the inward curse the verse sets against the spoken blessing.
THE PATTERN
Speech can present blessing while concealing an inward intent to diminish or harm.
Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow, and it speaks deceit. One speaks wholeness to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he sets his ambush.He who hates makes himself a stranger with his lips, and lays deceit within him.With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who have been made according to the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and curse. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.THE THREAD
They speak emptiness, each one with his neighbor; with smooth lips, with two hearts, they speak.Psalm 12 names the inner split as a “double heart”; Psalm 62 shows its two faces as spoken blessing and inward curse. Together, they reveal how flattering speech can mask a divided intent.
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