What Does Psalm 72:20 Mean in the King James?
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
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 word translated “ended” also carries “completed,” so David’s prayers are pictured as brought to wholeness rather than erased.
THE MEANING
The verse lets an ending mean completion: the prayers stand as a whole expression, even when their speaking stops. Their finish does not make them empty or lost.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a prayer that stops has failed or disappeared; here, its stopping marks completion.
THE ROOT
תַּמּוּ
tamu
GROWS FROM
תמם
tamam
To be complete, whole, or finished.
The word translated “ended” is תַּמּוּ (tamu), from תָּמַם (tamam), “to be complete, whole.” The same root carries both an ending and wholeness, so the line can name completion rather than mere cessation.
ALSO GROWS
tam: Whole, complete; sometimes upright or blameless.
תָּם
This branch shows that completion can describe a whole state of being, not simply a task that has stopped.
tamim: Whole, complete, sound.
תָּמִים
This form makes the root’s sense of wholeness explicit and illuminates “ended” as brought to completion.
תְּפִלּוֹת
tefillot
GROWS FROM
פלל
palal
To intervene or intercede; in the prayer form, to pray or appeal.
English “prayers” can sound like a category of religious speech, while this Hebrew word belongs to a family that also carries appeal and intercession. The verse closes an act of address, not merely a collection of words.
ALSO GROWS
tefillah: Prayer, petition.
תְּפִלָּה
This singular form is the same kind of address named in the verse’s plural “prayers.”
hitpallel: To pray, entreat.
הִתְפַּלֵּל
This verb makes the action within “prayers” visible: someone is appealing, not only speaking.
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
dod
Beloved, dear one.
David’s name echoes דּוֹד (dod), “beloved.” The verse’s closing line therefore names the prayers as belonging to a person whose name carries belovedness.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved, dear one; also a close male relative or uncle.
דּוֹד
This word carries the belovedness echoed in David’s name.
dodim: Loves, beloved affection.
דֹּדִים
This plural form shows the same name-root extending into the language of affection.
THE PATTERN
Across Scripture, an ending can mark a work brought to completion and wholeness.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.THE THREAD
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.The word rendered “perfect” is תְּמִימָה (temimah), “whole, complete,” from תָּמַם (tamam), the same root behind “are ended” here. This verse makes the shared root visible: completion can be wholeness.
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