What Does Psalm 17:14 Mean?
From mortals, your hand, O LORD; from mortals of the passing world, whose portion is in life, whose belly you fill from your hidden store. They are filled with children, and they set down their surplus for their little ones.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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 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.
“hidden store” 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.
And I hated all my toil that I toiled under the sun, for I will set it down for the person who will be after me.Surely every man walks in a shadow. Surely for vapor they roar. He heaps up, and does not perceive who will gather them.But God said to him, Mindless one, this night your living soul will be demanded back from you. Then whose will those things be that you have made ready?THE THREAD
The LORD is the portion of my share and of my cup; you hold fast 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.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us