The Meaning of Psalms 19:4 Explained

Psalms 19:4

KJV: Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

YLT: Into all the earth hath their line gone forth, And to the end of the world their sayings, For the sun He placed a tent in them,

Darby: Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their language to the extremity of the world. In them hath he set a tent for the sun,

ASV: Their line is gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Their line  is gone out  through all the earth,  and their words  to the end  of the world.  In them hath he set  a tabernacle  for the sun, 

What does Psalms 19:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 19:1-14 - The Works And The Word Of God
This is the "Psalm of the Two Books"-Nature and Scripture. If Psalms 8:1-9 were written at night, Psalms 19:1-14 was surely written by day. In Psalms 19:1, God is called El, "strong;" in Psalms 19:7-9; Psalms 19:14, the Hebrew Jehovah is translated "Lord," as if His glory as Creator is the stepping-stone to loftier conceptions of the Redeemer.
Nature's silence! No speech nor language! Psalms 19:3. What a picture of the sacred stillness of dawn! Yet the witness-bearing is universal. Line, Psalms 19:4, is "compass" or "territory," but some translate it "chord." Nature's harp is strung to the glory of God. Jesus is our Sun, Malachi 4:2.
Six synonyms for Scripture, and twelve qualities ascribed to it, Psalms 19:7-9. How truly might our Lord have appropriated Psalms 19:10! Let us end with confession and prayer. Errors, Psalms 19:12; see Leviticus 4:2, r.v., margin, Psalms 19:13. Dominion, Psalms 19:13; Romans 6:14. For the seventh time Jehovah, Psalms 19:14, with two loving epithets! Can we all say my, claiming all of God? [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 19

1  The creatures show God's glory
7  The excellence of the divine law
12  David prays for grace

What do the individual words in Psalms 19:4 mean?

Through all the earth has gone out their line and to the end of the world Their words for the sun He has set a tabernacle in them
בְּכָל־ הָאָ֨רֶץ ׀ יָ֘צָ֤א קַוָּ֗ם וּבִקְצֵ֣ה תֵ֭בֵל מִלֵּיהֶ֑ם לַ֝שֶּׁ֗מֶשׁ שָֽׂם־ אֹ֥הֶל בָּהֶֽם

בְּכָל־  Through  all 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
הָאָ֨רֶץ ׀  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
יָ֘צָ֤א  has  gone  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
קַוָּ֗ם  their  line 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: קָו 
Sense: cord, line, measuring-line.
וּבִקְצֵ֣ה  and  to  the  end 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: קָצֶה 
Sense: end, extremity.
תֵ֭בֵל  of  the  world 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תֵּבֵל  
Sense: world.
מִלֵּיהֶ֑ם  Their  words 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מִלָּה  
Sense: word, speech, utterance.
לַ֝שֶּׁ֗מֶשׁ  for  the  sun 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: שֶׁמֶשׁ  
Sense: sun.
שָֽׂם־  He  has  set 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
אֹ֥הֶל  a  tabernacle 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֹהֶל  
Sense: tent.
בָּהֶֽם  in  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural