What Does Psalm 17:14 Mean in the King James?
From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
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 verse makes abundance itself a bounded portion: full bellies, children, and inherited goods can fill a life without reaching beyond it.
THE MEANING
You see a kind of fullness here: bellies filled, children around, and substance left to the next generation. Yet this portion remains “in this life”; its plenty and inheritance stay within the life that receives them. The verse names a boundary around abundance without denying that it is abundance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the assumption that a full household and a legacy necessarily mean one’s portion reaches beyond this life.
THE ROOT
חֶלְקָם
ḥelqām
GROWS FROM
חלק
ḥ-l-q
To divide or apportion; to assign a share.
The verse does not merely say these people own things; their allotted share is located “in this life.” The root lets “portion” carry the sense of a divided share, making the boundary of what they receive the central question.
ALSO GROWS
ḥālaq: To divide or apportion.
חָלַק
The verb shows the action behind a portion: a share is set apart from a larger whole.
ḥēleq: A portion or share.
חֵלֶק
This is the word used in the verse, marking their share as life-bound.
maḥălōqet: A division or dispute.
מַחֲלֹקֶת
This branch keeps the idea of division visible: a portion is one part among others.
צְפוּנְךָ
ṣĕpûnĕkā
GROWS FROM
צפן
ṣ-p-n
To hide, conceal, or store away.
“hid treasure” in this verse is ṣĕpûnĕkā. What is hidden or stored becomes provision that fills the belly. The image keeps abundance concrete and bodily, while placing it among the things that make up a share in this life.
ALSO GROWS
ṣāfan: To hide or store up.
צָפַן
This verb reveals the stored-away sense beneath the KJV’s “hid treasure.”
ṣāfûn: A hidden or stored thing.
צָפוּן
The hidden store is not remote in this verse; it becomes food and fullness.
יִשְׂבְּעוּ
yiśbəʿû
GROWS FROM
שבע
ś-b-ʿ
To be satisfied or sated.
The phrase rendered “full of children” uses a verb meaning to be satisfied: they are sated with children. The verse presents family as part of what completes their portion, alongside the filled belly and the goods passed on.
ALSO GROWS
śāvēaʿ: Satisfied or sated.
שָׂבֵעַ
This adjective shows the state of fullness carried by the verse’s verb.
śevaʿ: Satisfaction or fullness.
שֶׂבַע
This noun names the satisfaction that the verse associates with children.
THE PATTERN
Abundance can be full within this life and still remain bounded by this life.
Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?THE THREAD
The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.The word translated “portion” is the same Hebrew חֵלֶק (ḥēleq), meaning “share,” in both verses. Psalm 16 names the LORD as the speaker’s share; here, some people have their share within this life.
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