What Does Psalm 73:25 Mean in the King James?
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
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 “desire” also means “delight”: the verse names what the heart takes pleasure in, not merely what it chooses.
THE MEANING
The speaker finds no one in heaven comparable to God and no earthly desire that stands beside God as a rival. The verse speaks now as a confession of undivided longing, with heaven and earth gathered around one deepest good.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This verse undoes the belief that heaven and earth must provide separate ultimate objects of desire.
THE ROOT
חָפַצְתִּי
ḥāphaṣtî
GROWS FROM
חפץ
To desire, take pleasure in, or delight.
The Hebrew form comes from a word family for desire and delight, so the speaker names what the heart takes pleasure in. The same root describes delight in the LORD’s instruction, revealing desire as an inward orientation, not just a passing preference.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēpheṣ: Delight, pleasure, or desire; in Psalm 1:2, “his delight.”
חֵפֶץ
The same root links the speaker’s desire here with delight in the LORD’s instruction there.
ḥāphēṣ: To take pleasure in, be pleased with, or desire.
חָפֵץ
This verbal branch shows desire as positive pleasure, illuminating the verse’s confession of what the heart cherishes.
THE PATTERN
What the heart receives as its deepest delight becomes the center that orders every other desire.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.THE THREAD
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.The word translated “delight” comes from the same חפץ root as “desire” in this verse. Psalm 73:25 names the heart’s singular object; Psalm 1:2 shows that same delight taking shape in the LORD’s instruction.
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