In Psalm 10:4 out of my King James Thompson Chain Bible we read:
“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” (King James Version)
Think of the head of a man and inside that head we see a brain where the title GOD fills it entirety. Then think of another head with a visible brain where the person had no thought of God in his thoughts at all, and then compare that to a person who has some God in their head and then back to a person who lives with all God in their head.
Then let’s consider the first line, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance.” What could this mean? In English, when we do something “through” we are accomplishing it by applying or using something. When we speak to an audience through a microphone then we am speaking to them through the device. So when we read that the wicked, “through the pride of his countenance the light comes on when we realize that what was being said by David was,
“The wicked, while having a proud look on their face, will not seek after God.”
Let’s look at some other translations to see if they support what the King James has to say. Here are a few
ASV – “The wicked, in the pride of his countenance . . .”
MKJV- “Through the pride of his face the wicked will not seek . . .”
RSV – “In the pride of his countenance the wicked does not seek him . . .”
WEB- “The wicked, in the pride of his face . . .”
YLT – “The wicked according to the height of his face . . .”
BBE – “The evil-doer in his pride says,”
DBY – “The wicked [saith], in the haughtiness of his countenance . . .”
So far so good. And from this we might say that the Psalmist was proclaiming that wicked people, in and through a proud face, look or countenance . . . do something. Looked back to the King James:
“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” (King James Version)
So, the wicked through a proud face . . . will not seek after God (In other words) God is not in all his thoughts!”
While all the versions pretty much agreed as to what the first line said, we notice they were not in agreement on how the verse ends. Where we read in the King James
“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” (King James Version)
We find that the following version supported this translation, saying:
WEB- “The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God.”
But five of the other translations supported a completely different idea!
ASV- “The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, [saith], He will not require [it]. All his thoughts are, There is no God.”
YLT- “The wicked according to the height of his face, inquireth not. `God is not!’ [are] all his devices.”
BBE-“The evil-doer in his pride says, God will not make a search. All his thoughts are, There is no God.”
DBY-“The wicked [saith], in the haughtiness of his countenance, He doth not search out: all his thoughts are, There is no God!”
RSV- “In the pride of his countenance the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
Only one took the two thoughts (that God is not in all the thoughts of the wicked AND that there is no God and said:
MKJV- “Through the pride of his face the wicked will not seek [Him]; There [is] no God in all his schemes.”
What are we to say? How are we to see this discrepancy? Admittedly, the passages do relate to each other but the King James and the WEB clearly suggest that the wicked man has no room in his thoughts for God,” while the ASV, YLT, BBE, DBY and RSV all clearly say that the wicked not only do not seek or inquire after God but that all their thoughts are screaming, “God does not even exist!” These are very different meanings!
KJV and WEB
GOD
God to some extent or another.
ASV YLT BBE DBY RSV
There is no God
No God whatsoever.
MKJV
No GOD in schemes
No God in his schemes
The Hebrew of the KJV reads
Psalms 10:4 The wicked <rasha`>, through the pride <gobahh> of his countenance <‘aph>, will not seek <darash> after God: God <‘elohiym> is not in all his thoughts <m@zimmah>.
Compiled it looks like this
rasha` gobahh ‘aph darash ‘elohiym m@zimmah
RASHA – wicked bad person
GOBAHH – loftiness, pride and elation
APH – the snout, nose, nostril thus face
DARESH – pursue, question, follow
ELOHIYM – god or Supreme God
MEZZIMAH – a plan or scheme, usually evil sometimes good.
So, “wicked person proud in snout follow God in schemes”
Adding complexity to the issue, the LXX of the passage is translated into English as:
“The sinner has provoked the Lord, according to the abundance of his pride he will not seek after: God is not before Him.”
Herein lies (yet another) proof that the Bible – no matter the translation – is to be read and determined by the Spirit through the individual because each message is not only filtered through the minds of the person reading (or hearing it taught) but the translational differences prove that we are subject to thinking and perceiving Him and His word in all together different ways!
With this being the case, as proven here, then each individual is absolutely responsible before God for what they have sought, read, believed, and assumed. This is why God seeks those who “seek Him in Spirit and Truth!”
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