What Does Psalm 96:6 Mean?
Majesty and splendor are before his face; strength and adornment are in his set-apart place.
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
Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.THE KEY
The word “sanctuary” names what is set apart, and the verse says strength and beauty inhabit it together.
THE MEANING
This verse presents God’s presence as a place where strength does not erase beauty: both inhabit what is set apart. Honor and majesty stand before him, while his dwelling holds might and adornment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that strength must be severe and beauty merely decorative: here, both belong in the same set-apart dwelling.
THE ROOT
מִקְדָּשׁוֹ
miqdāshô
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
Set apart; mark as sacred.
“set-apart place” in this verse is miqdāshô. Miqdash is formed from the root meaning “set apart.” The verse places strength and beauty inside what is set apart, so “sanctuary” names a quality of belonging as well as a place.
ALSO GROWS
qodesh: Set-apartness; a sacred thing.
קֹדֶשׁ
This branch makes clear that the sanctuary’s defining quality is being set apart.
qadosh: Set apart.
קָדוֹשׁ
The same root describes what belongs to the set-apart realm named by “sanctuary.”
תִּפְאֶרֶת
tifʾeret
GROWS FROM
פאר
p-ʾ-r
Adorn; beautify; bring splendor into view.
The root gives beauty the sense of adornment and displayed splendor, not only an abstract quality. Here that splendor inhabits the set-apart dwelling alongside strength.
ALSO GROWS
paʾar: To adorn, beautify, or glorify.
פָּאַר
This verb shows beauty as something made visible through adornment.
peʾer: An ornament or headdress.
פְּאֵר
This branch gives the root a concrete image of splendor worn or displayed.
עֹז
ʿoz
GROWS FROM
עזז
ʿ-z-z
Be strong; prevail.
The root carries active force and might. Paired with beauty in one sanctuary, strength is shown as able to dwell with splendor rather than displace it.
ALSO GROWS
ʿazaz: To be strong; to prevail.
עָזַז
This verb reveals the forceful action held within the noun “strength.”
ʿizzuz: Mighty; powerful.
עִזּוּז
This related form underscores the might that shares the sanctuary with beauty.
THE PATTERN
God’s presence is revealed through strength and splendor held together rather than divided.
One thing I ask of the LORD, this I will seek; that I may settle in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the sweetness of the LORD, and to search out in his temple.The voice of the LORD is in power; the voice of the LORD is in splendor.Who, being the radiance of his weight and the exact stamp of his foundation, carrying all things by the word of his power, when he had made the cleansing of shortcomings, sat down at the right hand of the Greatness on high.THE THREAD
The voice of the LORD is in power; the voice of the LORD is in splendor.The Hebrew word translated “majesty” here is hadar, the same word in Psalm 96:6. There it stands before the LORD beside honor, while strength and beauty fill his sanctuary; here, majesty accompanies the LORD’s powerful voice.
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