רָחֵק

From the study of Psalm 73:27

Range of meaning

Far, distant, removed. It covers distance in space (a far land) and distance in relationship. This adjective form occurs only here. The usual word is the closely related raḥôq (H7350), and lexicons such as BDB treat the two as one word.

Against the English

'Far from you' (KJV, BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV) is accurate. Modern readers can still hear it as a feeling ('I feel far from God'). The Hebrew describes where a person stands: they have put distance between themselves and God.

How it drifted

Modern devotional language uses 'feeling far from God' for spiritual dryness, and that sense can attach itself to this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

Being far from God is a fixed phrase in Israel's worship and wisdom writing. 'The LORD is far from the wicked' (Prov 15:29). 'Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes' (Ps 119:155). 'Their heart is far from me' (Isa 29:13). 'They went far from me and went after emptiness' (Jer 2:5). The Greek Septuagint renders this verse 'those who make themselves far from you' (hoi makrynontes heautous), which reads it as distance they chose.