Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

PSALMS 146:7KJV
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Psalms 146:7 (KJV)

What does Psalms 146:7 mean?

Psalms 146:7 describes the LORD as a defender and provider for people in desperate situations. The verse presents his care in concrete actions: securing justice for those treated harshly, feeding those without food, and freeing those held captive.

After verse 6 speaks of the LORD as maker of heaven and earth, verse 7 brings his power close to human need. The singer moves from a public setting, where justice is carried out, to the basic need for food and then to freedom from confinement.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 146:7

  • “judgment” — מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat): This word can mean justice or a legal decision. Here, “executeth judgment” pictures action that upholds the cause of people who have been treated unfairly.
  • “food” — לֶחֶם (lechem): This word often means bread, but it can also refer to food more broadly. The KJV’s “food” brings out the sense of provision for hungry people.

Why Psalms 146:7 matters

  • The verse gives the singer’s reasons for trusting the LORD practical substance. Its three actions show what that trust concerns: justice, food, and freedom.
  • “The LORD looseth the prisoners” presents captivity as something from which the LORD can release people. In the surrounding lines, the singer continues naming people who need help, making this release part of a wider picture of care.

Where else these words appear

“looseth” Hebrew H5425 · used in 8 verses

  • Leviticus 11:21 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth;
  • Job 6:9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
  • Psalms 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.

“hungry” Hebrew H7457 · used in 22 verses

  • 1 Samuel 2:5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
  • Psalms 107:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
  • Isaiah 29:8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

“oppressed” Hebrew H6231 · used in 35 verses

  • Leviticus 6:2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
  • Psalms 72:4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
  • Isaiah 52:4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

“prisoners” Hebrew H631 · used in 64 verses

  • Genesis 39:20 And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
  • Judges 15:13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
  • 2 Chronicles 13:3 And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.