Psalms 72:20
in Psalms 72Thus conclude the prayers of David son of Jesse.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
KJV
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
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This verse in Psalms 72
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. The Septuagint version renders it, the hymns.
This site's exposition
the prayers of David
The line declares the prayers of David son of Jesse finished, and with them the psalm's prayers for the king. A colophon is the note a scribe set at the end of a collection. Delitzsch read this one as the seam of an older gathering.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This was the last psalm that ever he penned, though not placed last in this collection; he penned it when he lay on his death-bed, and with this he breathes his last: "Let God be glorified, let the kingdom of the Messiah be set up, and kept up, in the world, and I have enough, I desire no more. With this let the prayers of David the son of Jesse be ended.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The prayer - This psalm is the last which David composed: for this was wrote but a little before his death.
It was a comfort to David that his own son was to be his successor, but more so that he was likely to be both judicious and righteous. David had given him a good education ( Prov. iv. 3 ), had taught him good judgment and righteous, yet that would not do unless God gave him his judgments.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended - This was most probably the last Psalm he ever wrote. There may be several in the after part of this book which were written by him; but they were probably composed in a former period of his life, for this was the end of the poetic prayers of David the son of Jesse. Those that were found afterwards have got out of their proper connection.
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. What more could he ask? He has climbed the summit of the mount of God; he desires nothing more. With this upon his lip, he is content to die. He strips himself of his own royalty and becomes only the "son of Jesse, "thrice happy to subside into nothing before the crowned Messiah.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
ended--literally, "finished," or completed; the word never denotes fulfilment, except in a very late usage, as in Ezr 1:1;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. What more could he ask? He has climbed the summit of the mount of God; he desires nothing more. With this upon his lip, he is content to die. He strips himself of his own royalty and becomes only the "son of Jesse, "thrice happy to subside into nothing before the crowned Messiah. Before his believing eye the reign of Jesus, like the sun, filled all around with light, and the holy soul of the man after God's own heart exulted in it, and sung his "Nunc dimittis:" "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation!" We, too, will cease from all petitioning if it be granted to us to see the day of the Lord. Our blissful spirits will then have nothing further to do but for ever to praise the Lord our God.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended - This is not found in the Syriac. The following is added in that version at the close of the psalm: “The end of the Second Book.” In regard to this twentieth verse, it is quite clear that it is no part of the psalm; and it is every way probable that it was not placed here by the author of the psalm, and also that it has no special and exclusive reference to this psalm, for the psalm could in no special sense be called “a prayer of David.” The words bear all the marks of having been placed at the close of a collection of psalms, or a division of the Book of Psalms, to which might be given as an appropriate designation, the title “The Prayers of David, the son of Jesse;” meaning that that book, or that division of the book, was made up of the compositions of David, and might be thus distinguished from other portions of the general collection. This would not imply that in this part of the collection there were literally no other psalms than those which had been composed by David, or that none of the psalms of David might be found in other parts of the general collection, but that this division was more entirely made up of his psalms, and that the name might therefore be given to this as his collection. It may be fairly inferred from this, that there was such a collection, or that there were, in the Book of Psalms, divisions which were early recognized. See the General Introduction. Dr. Horsley supposes, however, that this declaration, “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended,” pertains to this psalm alone, as if David had nothing more to pray for or to wish than what was expressed in these glowing representations of the kingdom of the Messiah, and of the happy times which would be enjoyed under his rule.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כָּלּ֥וּ | kalu | they are finished | H3615 → | 208 times |
| תְפִלּ֑וֹת | tefilot | [the] prayers of | H8605 → | 72 times |
| דָּ֝וִ֗ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשָֽׁי׃ | yishai | Jesse | H3448 → |
כָּלּ֥וּthey are finished
kaluH3615 →208 times
תְפִלּ֑וֹת[the] prayers of
tefilotH8605 →72 times
דָּ֝וִ֗דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
יִשָֽׁי׃Jesse
yishaiH3448 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Samuel 23:1These are the last words of David: “The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised on high, the one anointed by the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 16:12–13
So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”
- Psalms 89:20
I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
- 2 Samuel 7:8–9
Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My…
- Psalms 78:70–71
He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
- Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to…
- 1 Samuel 16:12–13
Through
Luke 24:51While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.
it leads to
- Acts 1:9
After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
- John 20:17
“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God…
- Acts 1:9
Through
Jeremiah 51:64Then you are to say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again, because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will grow weary.’” Here end the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:58
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will…
- Jeremiah 51:58
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
