What Does Psalm 21:4 Mean in the King James?
He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
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
Life is an answer received from God, with a horizon that reaches beyond counted days.
THE MEANING
Your life appears here as something asked of God and received from him, its span reaching into the ages. The verse holds both dependence and abundance: life is given, and its horizon keeps opening.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that life depends entirely on your own power to secure it is undone: here, life is asked of God and given.
THE ROOT
חַיִּים
chayyim
GROWS FROM
חיה
To live; to be alive.
The Hebrew uses חַיִּים (chayyim), a plural-shaped noun from the root “to live.” The same root names the living one and a living creature, so “life” carries the fullness of living existence, not just an abstract idea.
ALSO GROWS
chai: Living; alive.
חַי
The same root describes the one who has life, not only life as a gift.
chayah: To live; remain alive.
חָיָה
The verb behind “life” shows the gift as lived existence.
chayyah: A living creature.
חַיָּה
This branch connects life to the beings who embody it.
THE PATTERN
Life is received from God as a gift that sustains and extends beyond the moment it is given.
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.THE THREAD
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.Both verses use the חיה (chayah, to live) root: here life is asked for and given; there it becomes a path. The shared root links the gift of life to the way that unfolds in God’s presence.
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