What Does Psalm 72:10 Mean?
The kings of Tarshish and the coastlands return a tribute, and the kings of Sheba and Seba draw near with gifts.
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
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.THE KEY
The verbs make tribute a movement: distant rulers turn what they carry toward the king and draw it near.
THE MEANING
The verse gives you a picture of rule that reaches across distance: even far-off powers turn toward the king with what they carry. Their tribute is brought and drawn near. Authority gathers the distant into visible recognition.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that distance places a power beyond rightful rule: even rulers from the farthest reaches turn toward the king.
THE ROOT
יָשִׁיבוּ
yashivu
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
Turn or return; in this verb form, bring back or cause to return.
“return a tribute” in this verse is yashivu. The verb translated “bring” carries the motion of turning or returning. The tribute is not merely transported; the wording pictures it moving back toward the king.
ALSO GROWS
heshiv: Bring back, restore
הֵשִׁיב
This form makes the return-motion explicit, showing how the root can describe bringing something back.
teshuvah: Return, response
תְּשׁוּבָה
A response is a turning back toward what has addressed or called; the branch echoes the verse’s movement toward the king.
יַקְרִיבוּ
yaqrivu
GROWS FROM
קָרַב
qarav
Approach or draw near; in this verb form, cause to approach, hence present or offer.
“draw near” in this verse is yaqrivu. The verb translated “offer” is built from the root for coming near. The gifts are not only handed over; they are brought into nearness to the king.
ALSO GROWS
qorban: Offering, something brought near
קָרְבָּן
An offering shares the root’s approach-motion, making the gift itself an act of drawing near.
qarov: Near, close
קָרוֹב
This branch names the nearness already carried by the verb for offering.
THE PATTERN
A just king’s reach becomes visible when distant peoples bring tribute and honor toward him.
From your temple, over Jerusalem, kings carry gifts to you.A flood of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah. All from Sheba shall come, carrying gold and frankincense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the LORD.And the nations of the delivered walk by its light, and the kings of the earth carry their weight and honor into it.THE THREAD
Flourishing is the man you choose and bring near, to lodge in your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of your house, your set-apart temple.“Causest to approach” comes from the same root as “offer” in Psalm 72:10. One verse pictures rulers bringing gifts near; the other pictures a person being brought near to dwell in the divine courts, so the offering’s movement is also a movement of access.
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