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Read the Bible

King James Version

Psalms 34:12

What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Longevity;   Quotations and Allusions;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Peace;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Letters;   Psalms, the Book of;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Abimelech;   Teacher;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Disease;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Abimelech;   Achish;   Acrostic;   David;   English Versions;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Life;   Peter, First Epistle of;   Psalms;   Sin;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Life;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Abimelech;   Achish;   Lamentations of jeremiah;   Psalms the book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Life;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Alexandri;   Calumny;   Education;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Who is someone who desires life,loving a long life to enjoy what is good?
Hebrew Names Version
Who is someone who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
English Standard Version
What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?
New Century Version
You must do these things to enjoy life and have many happy days.
New English Translation
Do you want to really live? Would you love to live a long, happy life?
Amplified Bible
Who is the man who desires life And loves many days, that he may see good?
New American Standard Bible
Who is the person who desires life And loves length of days, that he may see good?
World English Bible
Who is someone who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
Geneva Bible (1587)
What man is he, that desireth life, and loueth long dayes for to see good?
Legacy Standard Bible
Who is the man who delights in lifeAnd loves many days that he may see good?
Berean Standard Bible
Who is the man who delights in life, who desires to see good days?
Contemporary English Version
Do you want to live and enjoy a long life?
Complete Jewish Bible
Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of Adonai .
Darby Translation
What man is he that desireth life, [and] loveth days, that he may see good?
Easy-to-Read Version
Do you want to enjoy life? Do you want to have many happy days?
George Lamsa Translation
Where is the man who desires not life and many days that he may see the good time to come?
Good News Translation
Would you like to enjoy life? Do you want long life and happiness?
Lexham English Bible
Who is the man who desires life, who loves many days in order to see good?
Literal Translation
Who is the man who desires life, who loves days in order to see good?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Who so listeth to lyue, & wolde fayne se good dayes.
American Standard Version
What man is he that desireth life, And loveth many days, that he may see good?
Bible in Basic English
What man has a love of life, and a desire that his days may be increased so that he may see good?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
King James Version (1611)
What man is hee that desireth life; and loueth many dayes, that he may see good?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
What man is he that listeth to liue: [and] woulde fayne see good dayes.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
What man is there that desires life, loving to see good days?
English Revised Version
What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Who is a man, that wole lijf; loueth to se good daies?
Update Bible Version
What man is he that desires life, And loves [many] days, that he may see good?
Webster's Bible Translation
What man [is he that] desireth life, [and] loveth [many] days, that he may see good?
New King James Version
Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
New Living Translation
Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous?
New Life Bible
Who is the man who has a desire for life, and wants to live long so that he may see good things?
New Revised Standard
Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Who is the man that desireth life, Loving days, that he may see good?
Douay-Rheims Bible
(33-13) Who is the man that desireth life: who liveth to see good days?
Revised Standard Version
What man is there who desires life, and covets many days, that he may enjoy good?
Young's Literal Translation
Who [is] the man that is desiring life? Loving days to see good?
THE MESSAGE
Who out there has a lust for life? Can't wait each day to come upon beauty?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good?

Contextual Overview

11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord . 12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. 20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

What: Psalms 21:4, Psalms 91:16, Deuteronomy 6:2, Deuteronomy 30:20, 1 Peter 3:10, 1 Peter 3:11

that he: Psalms 4:6, Job 7:7, Ecclesiastes 2:3, Ecclesiastes 12:13

Reciprocal: Genesis 19:16 - the Lord Deuteronomy 11:9 - prolong Deuteronomy 25:15 - that thy days Job 32:7 - General Psalms 15:2 - speaketh Psalms 94:14 - forsake Ecclesiastes 6:6 - yet Isaiah 65:20 - There shall Amos 5:14 - Seek Matthew 5:9 - are

Cross-References

Genesis 24:53
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
Genesis 29:18
And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
Genesis 31:41
Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Genesis 34:16
Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
Genesis 34:17
But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
Genesis 34:25
And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
Genesis 34:27
The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
Genesis 34:28
They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,
Genesis 34:29
And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
2 Samuel 3:14
And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

What man [is he that] desireth life?.... Every man desires life, even a natural life; it is more desirable than all things in it; especially an healthful life, without which the blessings and mercies of life cannot be comfortably enjoyed; and still more a life of prosperity; life, with an affluence of good things, and even a long one: though it may be rather that a spiritual life is here meant, and a comfortable one; a life free from the remorses of a guilty conscience, from the fear of hell, damnation, and wrath; from the bondage of the law, and the dread of death; a life of faith on Christ, and communion with him; and a life of sobriety, righteousness, and holiness; and perhaps it may be best of all to understand it of eternal life, which is life eminently and emphatically; it follows,

[and] loveth [many] days; that is, good ones; as they are interpreted in 1 Peter 3:10; not of this life, for the days of it are evil, and especially when they are lengthened out; the days of old age, Ecclesiastes 12:1; unless the days of the son of man, the days of enjoying the presence of God in his house and ordinances, should be intended; though rather the good and many days of eternity, even length of days, for ever and ever, in which will be fulness of joy, and never ceasing and never fading pleasures;

that he may see good; there is good to be seen and enjoyed in this life, which if the saints did not believe they should see and enjoy, they would often faint; and this good lies in the participation of the blessings of grace, and in fellowship with Father, Son, and Spirit: but the great and lasting good to be seen and enjoyed is in the world to come, when God shall be all in all, be seen as he is, and the saints shall inherit all things.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

What man is he that desireth life? - That desires to live long. All people naturally love life; and all naturally desire to live long; and this desire, being founded in our nature, is not wrong. Life is, in itself, a good - a blessing to be desired; death is in itself an evil, and a thing to be dreaded, and there is nothing wrong, in itself, in such a dread. Equally proper is it to wish not to be cut down in early life; for where one has before him an eternity for which to prepare, he feels it undesirable that he should be cut off in the beginning of his way. The psalmist, therefore, does not put this question because he supposes that there were any who did not desire life, or did not wish to see many days, but in order to fix the attention on the inquiry, and to prepare the mind for the answer which was to follow. By thus putting the question, also, he has implicitly expressed the opinion that it is lawful to desire life, and to wish to see many days.

And loveth many days - literally, “loving days.” That is, who so loves days, considered as a part of life, that he wishes they may be prolonged and multiplied.

That he may see good - That he may enjoy prosperity, or find happiness. In other words, who is he that would desire to understand the way by which life may be lengthened out to old age, and by which it may be made happy and prosperous? The psalmist proposes to answer this question - as he does in the following verses, by stating the results of what he had experienced and observed.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 34:12. What man is he that desireth life — He who wishes to live long and to live happily, let him act according to the following directions. For a comment upon this and the four ensuing verses, see the notes on 1 Peter 3:10-12.


 
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