The Meaning of Psalms 103:12 Explained

Psalms 103:12

KJV: As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

YLT: As the distance of east from west He hath put far from us our transgressions.

Darby: As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

ASV: As far as the east is from the west, So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

As far as  the east  is from the west,  [so] far hath he removed  our transgressions  from us. 

What does Psalms 103:12 Mean?

Study Notes

Removed our transgression from us
Three Hebrew words are trans. forgive, forgiven: kaphar, to cover; nasa, to lift away; salach, to send away (cf). Leviticus 16:21 ; Leviticus 16:22 the fundamental O.T. idea of forgiveness being not the remission of penalty, but the separation of the sinner from his sin.
Psalms 103:12 expresses this.

Context Summary

Psalms 103:1-12 - The Lord's Abundant Mercies
David's name heads this peerless psalm, which expresses, as none other, the soul of the universal Church and of the individual Christian. Notice the present tenses throughout these verses. God's tender dealings run parallel with our lives. He is never weary nor exhausted. When once He begins, He keeps on. Let us enumerate the blessings that He gives in such unbroken abundance, and as the fingers tell the successive beads, praise Him: forgiveness; healing, Exodus 15:26; redemption from perils and accidents, seen and unseen; the crowns that He places on our unworthy heads; entire satisfaction, Psalms 36:8; Isaiah 58:11; perennial youth.
It was a proverb among Orientals that the eagle literally grows younger. This is the psalmist's reference in Psalms 103:5. For us it means that the life which is fed from the eternal springs is eagle-like in royal strength and sunward flight. Ways or plans are revealed to the inner circle; the ordinary congregation knows only acts. The Father does chide, but only till we put sin away. Conceive the infinite spaces of East and West-such is the distance of forgiven sin from us. It is impossible that the blame or curse of it should ever return upon the redeemed soul. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 103

1  An exhortation to bless God for his mercy
5  And for the constancy thereof

What do the individual words in Psalms 103:12 mean?

As far as the east is from the west [So] far has He removed from us - our transgressions
כִּרְחֹ֣ק מִ֭זְרָח מִֽמַּֽעֲרָ֑ב הִֽרְחִ֥יק מִ֝מֶּ֗נּוּ אֶת־ פְּשָׁעֵֽינוּ

כִּרְחֹ֣ק  As  far  as 
Parse: Preposition-k, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: רָחַק  
Sense: to be or become far, be or become distant, be removed, go far away.
מִ֭זְרָח  the  east  is 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִזְרָח  
Sense: place of sunrise, east.
מִֽמַּֽעֲרָ֑ב  from  the  west 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מַעֲרָב  
Sense: setting place, west, westward.
הִֽרְחִ֥יק  [So]  far  has  He  removed 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָחַק  
Sense: to be or become far, be or become distant, be removed, go far away.
מִ֝מֶּ֗נּוּ  from  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
פְּשָׁעֵֽינוּ  our  transgressions 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: פֶּשַׁע  
Sense: transgression, rebellion.