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

PSALMS 103:12KJV
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Psalms 103:12 (KJV)

What does Psalms 103:12 mean?

Psalms 103:12 says that God has taken our wrongdoings and put them as far away from us as the east is from the west, showing just how completely He removes them. This verse uses the vast distance between east and west as a picture of total separation, emphasizing that our failures are no longer held against us.

King David is speaking in this psalm, praising God for His mercy and forgiveness toward His people. The verse comes in a section where David lists the many ways God shows compassion, and here he highlights how thoroughly God deals with human mistakes. The image of east and west would have been understood as an immeasurable distance, stressing the completeness of God’s forgiveness.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 103:12

  • "as" / "removed" (רָחַק, rachaq): This word means "to be far" or "to put far away." The verse uses it twice, first to compare the distance and then to describe what God has done with our transgressions, underlining the idea of total removal.
  • "east" (מִזְרָח, mizrach) and "west" (מַעֲרָב, maarav): These words refer to the directions east and west. In Hebrew thought, these directions never meet, so the phrase paints a picture of an infinite separation.
  • "transgressions" (פֶּשַׁע, pesha): This word refers to willful wrongdoing or rebellion, not just accidental mistakes. The verse is saying that even deliberate wrongs are completely removed by God.

Why Psalms 103:12 matters

  • This verse clears up the idea that forgiveness is partial or temporary; it stresses that God’s forgiveness means a complete and lasting removal of guilt.
  • The verse emphasizes God’s mercy as central to His character, fitting into the psalm’s larger theme of celebrating God’s compassion and kindness.
  • By using the image of east and west, Psalms 103:12 encourages readers to understand forgiveness as something that truly separates a person from their past wrongs, not just a light covering over them.

Where else these words appear

“west” Hebrew H4628 · used in 14 verses

  • 1 Chronicles 7:28 And their possessions and habitations were, Bethel and the towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and the towns thereof:
  • 1 Chronicles 26:30 And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of the LORD, and in the service of the king.
  • Psalms 107:3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

“as” Hebrew H7368 · used in 56 verses

  • Genesis 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
  • Psalms 22:11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
  • Isaiah 6:12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

“east” Hebrew H4217 · used in 71 verses

  • Exodus 27:13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.
  • Joshua 16:5 And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Atarothaddar, unto Bethhoron the upper;
  • 1 Chronicles 26:17 Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a day, and toward Asuppim two and two.

“transgressions” Hebrew H6588 · used in 90 verses

  • Genesis 31:36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
  • Psalms 51:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
  • Lamentations 1:14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.