He asked life of you and you gave it to him, even length of days forever and ever.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    He asked life of you and you gave it to him, even length of days forever and ever.

  • KJV King James Version

    He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    (21-5) He asked life of Thee, Thou gavest it him; even length of days for ever and ever.

View more translations →

Cross-references (11)

Passages linked to Psalms 21:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Psalms 91:16 I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation.”
  • Revelation 1:18 and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
  • Psalms 119:77 Let your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
  • Psalms 61:5-6 For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. You will prolong the king’s life. His years will be for generations.
  • Psalms 133:3 like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion; for there Yahweh gives the blessing, even life forever more.
  • Psalms 89:29 I will also make his offspring endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
  • Psalms 89:36-37 His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me. It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.”
  • Psalms 119:175 Let my soul live, that I may praise you. Let your ordinances help me.
  • Psalms 13:3 Behold, and answer me, Yahweh, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
  • Psalms 16:10-11 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
  • Psalms 72:17 His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

↑ Top

Explain this verse (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. He asked life from thee. This verse confirms…

4. He asked life from thee. This verse confirms what I have formerly said, that this psalm is not to be limited to the person of any one man. David’s life, it is true, was prolonged to an advanced period, so that, when he departed from this world, he was an old man, and full of days; but the course of his life was too short to be compared to this length of days, which is said to consist of many ages. Even if we reckon the time from the commencement of David’s reign to the captivity of Babylon, this length of days will not be made up and completed in all David’s successors. David, therefore, without doubt, comprehends the Eternal King. There is here a tacit comparison between the beginnings of this kingdom, which were obscure and contemptible, or rather which were fraught with the most grievous perils, and which bordered on despair; and the incredible glory which followed, when God, exempting it from the common lot of other kingdoms, elevated it almost above the heavens. For it is no ordinary commendation of this kingdom, when it is said, that it shall endure as long as the sun and moon shall shine in the heavens, (Psalm 72:1.) David, therefore, in saying that he asked life, tacitly points to the distressed circumstances to which he had often been reduced; and the meaning is, Lord, since the time thou hast called thy servant to the hope of the kingdom by thy holy anointing, his condition has been such that he has accounted it a singular blessing to be rescued from the jaws of death; but now, he has not only, by thy grace, escaped in safety the dangers which threatened his life: thou hast also promised that his kingdom will be continued for many ages in his successors. And it serves not a little to magnify the grace of God, that he vouchsafed to confer on a poor and miserable man, who was almost at the point of death, not only his life, - when, amidst the dangers which threatened it, he tremblingly asked merely its preservations — but also the inestimable honor of elevating him to the royal dignity, and of transmitting the kingdom to his posterity for ever. Some expound the verse thus:— Thou hast given him the life which he asked, even to the prolonging of his days for ever and ever. But this seems to me a cold and strained interpretation. We must keep in view the contrast which, as I have said, is here made between the weak and contemptible beginnings of the kingdom, and the unexpected honor which God conferred upon his servant, in calling the moon to witness that his seed should never fail. The same has been exemplified in Christ, who, from contempt, ignominy, death, the grave, and despair, was raised up by his Father to the sovereignty of heaven, to sit at the Father’s right hand for ever, and at length to be the judge of the world.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain David did not only obtain life, but also assurance…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 21:4 He asked life of thee, [and] thou…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He asked only the preservation of that short and…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain For ever - Thou gavest him a long life…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. He asked life of thee] This verse…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 21:4. He asked life of thee — Applied…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He asked life of thee - An expression similar…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (Compare Sa2 7:13-16). The glory and blessedness of the…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. He asked life—A reference to David’s sickness after…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. He asked … thou gavest] Cp. Psa_2:8. Long…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) For ever and ever.—This is merely a term…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it…
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 4. He asked life of thee, and thou…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He asked life of Thee, and Thou gavest him…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 21:4 God offers a rich quality of life (61:6-7;…

↑ Top

Share