What Does Psalm 116:15 Mean in the King James?
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The death of someone held in faithful love is named as a costly loss in the LORD’s own sight.
THE MEANING
The passing of the LORD’s faithful ones carries weight before him; it is neither trivial nor unseen. The verse holds their death within the care of the one who sees it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a faithful person’s death is cheap or invisible to God.
THE ROOT
יָקָר
yaqar
GROWS FROM
יקר
To be precious, costly, or rare.
“Precious” in this verse is yaqar. The word carries the sense of something valuable and costly. The verse does not call death good; it says the loss of the LORD’s faithful ones is never trivial in his sight.
ALSO GROWS
yaqar: Precious or rare.
יָקָר
In 1 Samuel 3:1, the word describes something rare; here it makes the death of the faithful something precious and weighty in the LORD’s sight.
yeqar: Honor or preciousness.
יְקָר
This related form shows how the root can name the value and honor attached to someone or something.
חֲסִידָיו
chasidav
GROWS FROM
חסד
Faithful love; steadfast care.
The word translated “saints” identifies the dead as the LORD’s faithful ones, with a word rooted in faithful love. The verse connects their death to the relationship of care that marks them as his.
ALSO GROWS
chesed: Faithful love.
חֶסֶד
This is the root that gives “his faithful ones” its relational depth: they are marked by faithful love.
chasid: A faithful or devoted one.
חָסִיד
This singular form shows the person described by the root; the verse uses the plural with “his,” naming those who belong to the LORD.
מָוֶת
mavet
GROWS FROM
מות
To die.
The Hebrew names death directly, while the verse places that death before the LORD’s regard. The same root links the event of dying with the condition of being dead.
ALSO GROWS
mut: To die.
מוּת
The verb names the act that the noun “death” describes.
met: Dead; one who has died.
מֵת
This form brings the root from the event of death to the person who has died.
THE PATTERN
God’s regard assigns real value to the lives and losses that others may overlook.
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.THE THREAD
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.The same Hebrew word, יָקָר (yaqar), appears in both verses as “precious.” Psalm 72:14 applies it to their blood, showing that what is lost through violence carries costly value in God’s sight.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us