What Does Psalm 23:6 Mean in the King James?
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for 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
Goodness and faithful love are the pursuers here, following you through every day and all the way to the LORD’s house.
THE MEANING
Goodness and faithful love pursue you through the whole span of your life. The LORD’s house is your dwelling through a long succession of days.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you must chase goodness alone gives way to this: goodness and faithful love are already pursuing you.
THE ROOT
יִרְדְּפוּנִי
yirdəfuni
GROWS FROM
רדף
r-d-p
Pursue, chase after; in a hostile setting, chase down or persecute.
The word translated “follow” carries the force of pursuit: goodness and faithful love actively chase after you. The same root can describe a person pursuing the knowledge of the LORD, so the movement of relationship runs in both directions.
ALSO GROWS
radaph: To chase after or pursue.
רָדַף
This is the root’s basic action: goodness and faithful love are pictured as moving after you.
nirdəfah: A form of the same verb, used in Hosea 6:3.
נִרְדְּפָה
There, people pursue knowing the LORD; here, goodness and faithful love pursue the speaker.
radaph: To chase or pursue with hostile intent.
רָדַף
The root can describe relentless pursuit in either direction; this verse turns that force toward goodness and faithful love.
חֶסֶד
ḥesed
GROWS FROM
חסד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful, loyal love expressed in action.
“mercy” in this verse is ḥesed. The verse joins goodness with chesed, faithful love that stays committed and acts. Because this love is paired with the verb “pursue,” it is not distant goodwill: it keeps after you.
ALSO GROWS
ḥasid: A person marked by loyal devotion.
חָסִיד
The related word describes the person characterized by the faithful love named here.
ḥasidim: People described by loyalty or devotion.
חֲסִידִים
The branch keeps the root’s sense of steadfast relationship rather than a passing feeling.
לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים
ləʾorekh yāmîm
GROWS FROM
ארך
ʾ-r-kh
Be long, extend, or lengthen.
The phrase behind “for ever” pictures duration as a length of days. The verse closes by extending the dwelling with the LORD across time, day after day.
ALSO GROWS
ʾorekh: A measured extent or length.
אֹרֶךְ
It gives the verse’s enduring promise an image of time stretching out.
ʾarokh: Extended in length or duration.
אָרֹךְ
The root’s sense of length underlies the phrase “length of days.”
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s care accompanies a person through daily life and the whole stretch of time.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.THE THREAD
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.“Follow on” in Hosea uses the same Hebrew root, רדף (radaph), as “follow” in this psalm. There, people pursue knowing the LORD; here, goodness and faithful love pursue the speaker.
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