Psalms 116:15

King James Version

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.

English Revised Version
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Update Bible Version
Precious in the sight of Yahweh Is the death of his saints.

New Century Version
The death of one that belongs to the Lord is precious in his sight.

New English Translation
The Lord values the lives of his faithful followers.

Webster's Bible Translation
Precious in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints.

World English Bible
Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of his saints.

Amplified Bible
Precious [and of great consequence] in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones [so He watches over them].

English Standard Version
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
the deth of seyntis of the Lord is precious in his siyt.

Berean Standard Bible
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.

Contemporary English Version
You are deeply concerned when one of your loyal people faces death.

American Standard Version
Precious in the sight of Jehovah Is the death of his saints.

Bible in Basic English
Dear in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Complete Jewish Bible
From Adonai 's point of view, the death of those faithful to him is costly.

Darby Translation
Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of his saints.

Easy-to-Read Version
Very dear to the Lord are the lives of his followers. He cares when they face death.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.

King James Version (1611)
Precious in ye sight of the Lord: is the death of his Saints.

New Life Bible
The death of His holy ones is of great worth in the eyes of the Lord.

New Revised Standard
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Precious in the sight of the Lorde is the death of his Saintes.

George Lamsa Translation
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Good News Translation
How painful it is to the Lord when one of his people dies!

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Costly in the eyes of Yahweh, is, death, for his men of lovingkindness.

Douay-Rheims Bible
(115-6) Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Revised Standard Version
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The death of his saintes: is precious in the eyes of God.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Christian Standard Bible®
The death of his faithful onesis valuable in the Lord’s sight.

Hebrew Names Version
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his holy ones.

Lexham English Bible
Costly in Yahweh's view is the death of his faithful ones.

Literal Translation
Precious in the eyes of Jehovah is the death of His saints.

Young's Literal Translation
Precious in the eyes of Jehovah [is] the death for His saints.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
O LORDE, I am thy seruaunt, I am thy seruaunt,

New American Standard Bible
Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.

New King James Version
Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones.

Legacy Standard Bible
Precious in the sight of YahwehIs the death of His holy ones.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: ¹¹ I said in my haste, All men are liars. ¹² What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? ¹³ I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord . ¹⁴ I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. ¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. ¹⁶ O Lord , truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. ¹⁷ I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord . ¹⁸ I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. ¹⁹ In the courts of the Lord 's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord .

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Precious: Psalms 37:32, Psalms 37:33, Psalms 72:14, 1 Samuel 25:29, Job 5:26, Luke 16:22, Revelation 1:18, Revelation 14:3

Reciprocal: Numbers 23:10 - the death 1 Samuel 18:30 - set by 1 Samuel 26:21 - my soul 2 Kings 1:14 - let my life 2 Kings 20:6 - I will add Psalms 16:3 - the saints Psalms 31:15 - My times Isaiah 38:5 - I will Acts 12:17 - declared Ephesians 3:18 - with

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Precious in the sight of the Lord [is] the death of his saints. The Lord has his saints or sanctified ones, who are sanctified or set apart by God the Father from all eternity; who are sanctified in Christ, their head and representative; who are sanctified by his blood, shed for the expiation of their sins; who are sanctified by his Spirit and grace, are called with an holy calling, and have principles of holiness wrought in them, and live holy lives and conversations. The word o used also signifies one that has received kindness and favour, and shows it: saints are such, who have received spiritual blessings from the Lord; to whom he has been kind and bountiful; and these are merciful and beneficent to others. Now these die as well as others, though holy and righteous, and though Christ has died for them; he has indeed delivered them from death as a punishment, he has abolished it in this sense; and has freed them from the curse and sting of it, but not from that itself; because it is for their good, and it is precious in the sight of the Lord. Saints are precious to him, living and dying; there is something in their death, or that attends it, that is delightful to him, and of high esteem with him; as when they are in the full exercise of grace at such a season; when they die in faith, and have hope in their death; and their love is drawn out unto him, and they long to be with him: besides, they die in the Lord, and sleep in Jesus, in union with him; with whom he is well pleased, and all in him; and they die unto him, according to his will, and are resigned unto it; and so glorify him in death, as well as in life. It is the time of their ingathering to him; at death he comes into his garden, and gathers his flowers, and smells a sweet savour in them; their very dust is precious to him, which he takes care of and raises up at the last day. The commonly received sense of the words is, that the saints are so dear to the Lord, their lives are so much set by with him, and their blood so precious to him, that he will not easily suffer their lives to be taken away, or their blood to be spilled; and whenever it is, he will, sooner or later, severely revenge it; see 1 Samuel 26:21. And to this sense is the Targum,

"precious before the Lord is death sent to (or inflicted on) his saints;''

that is, by men. The words will bear to be rendered, "precious in the sight of the Lord is that death", or "death itself, for his saints"; that very remarkable and observable death, even the death of his Son, which was not only for the good of his saints, for their redemption, salvation, justification, pardon, and eternal life; but in their room and stead; and which was very acceptable unto God, of high esteem with him, of a sweet smelling savour to him: not that he took pleasure in it, simply considered; for he that hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, even of a sinner, could have none in the death of his Son; but as hereby his justice was satisfied, his law fulfilled, the salvation of his people procured, and his covenant, counsels, purposes, and decrees, accomplished. המותה has a double ה in it; one at the beginning, and the other at the end of the word; which is very emphatic, and so may point at something very remarkable; and what more so than the death of Christ? and ל is sometimes used for substitution, and signifies "for", "instead", or "in the room of", another; see Exodus 4:16.

o לחסדיו "quos ipse benignitate prosequitur", Junius Tremellius so Musculus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints - Of his people; his friends. Luther renders this, “The death of his saints is held to be of value” - (ist werth gehalten) - “before the Lord.” The word rendered “precious” - יקר yâqâr - means costly, as precious stones, 1 Kings 10:2, 1 Kings 10:10-11; dear, beloved, as relatives and friends, Psalms 45:9; honored, respected, Ecclesiastes 10:1; splendid, beautiful, Job 31:26; rare, 1 Samuel 3:1. The idea here is, that the death of saints is an object of value; that God regards it as of importance; that it is connected with his great plans, and that there are great purposes to be accomplished by it. The idea here seems to be that the death of a good man is in itself of so much importance, and so connected with the glory of God and the accomplishment of his purposes, that he will not cause it to take place except in circumstances, at times, and in a manner, which will best secure those ends. The particular thought in the mind of the psalmist seems to have been that as he had been preserved when he was apparently so near to death, it must have been because God saw that the death of one of his friends was a matter of so much importance that it should occur only when the most good could be effected by it, and when the ends of life had been accomplished; that God would not decide on this hastily, or without the best reasons; and that, therefore, he had interposed to lengthen out his life still longer. Still, there is a general truth implied here, to wit, that the act of removing a good man from the world is, so to speak, an act of deep deliberation on the part of God; that good, and sometimes great, ends are to be accomplished by it; and that, therefore, God regards it with special interest. It is of value or importance in such respects as the following:

(1) as it is the removal of another of the redeemed to glory - the addition of one more to the happy hosts above;

(2) as it is a new triumph of the work of redemption - showing the power and the value of that work;

(3) as it often furnishes a more direct proof of the reality of religion than any abstract argument could do.

How much has the cause of religion been promoted by the patient deaths of Ignatius, and Polycarp, and Latimer, and Ridley, and Huss, and Jerome of Prague, and the hosts of the martyrs! What does not the world owe, and the cause of religion owe, to such scenes as occurred on the death-beds of Baxter, and Thomas Scott, and Halyburton, and Payson! What an argument for the truth of religion - what an illustration of its sustaining power - what a source of comfort to us who are soon to die - to reflect that religion does not leave the believer when he most needs its support and consolations; that it can sustain us in the severest trial of our condition here; that it can illuminate what seems to us of all places most dark, cheerless, dismal, repulsive - “the valley of the shadow of death!”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 116:15. Precious in the sight of the Lord — Many have understood this verse as meaning, "the saints are too precious in the Lord's sight, lightly to give them over to death:" and this, Calmet contends, is the true sense of the text. Though they have many enemies, their lives are precious in his sight, and their foes shall not prevail against them.