Psalms 34:12
in Psalms 34Who is the man who delights in life, who desires to see good days?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
What man is he that desireth life, And loveth many days, that he may see good?
KJV
What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
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This verse in Psalms 34
Commentary
12 notes on this verseBut are ye so devoid of fear, or rather of faith, as not to believe the Lord Himself, or Paul, who in Christ's stead thus entreats: "Taste and see that Christ is God?" Faith will lead you in; experience will teach you; Scripture will train you, for it says, "Come hither, O children; listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Then, as to those who already believe, it briefly adds, "What man is he that desireth life, that loveth to see good days?"
This site's exposition
Come, children, listen to me
on Psalms 34:11-14
The psalm turns from praise to teaching on the fear of the LORD. Verse 12 asks who wants life and good days, and verses 13 and 14 answer with the tongue, the lips, and what a man does. Peter quotes both verses at 1 Peter 3:10 and 11.
This site's exposition
Who is the man who delights in life
The question expects every hearer to answer that he does. Matthew Henry drew the distinction between many days and good ones, since well-being makes a life. Charles Spurgeon saw the promise of good days as the bait that draws the young to the teaching.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"What man is he that desireth life, and loveth to see good days?" (ver. 12). He asketh a question. Doth not every one among you answer, I? Is there any man among you that loveth not life, that is, that desireth not life, and loveth not to see good days? Do ye not daily thus murmur, and thus speak; How long shall we suffer these things? Daily are they worse and worse: in our fathers' time were days more joyful, were days better. O if thou couldest ask those same, thy fathers, in like manner would they murmur to thee of their own days. Our fathers were happy, miserable are we, evil days have we: such an one ruled over us, we thought that after his death might some refreshing be given to us; worse things have come: O God, show unto us good days! "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth to see good days?" Let him not seek here good days. A good thing he seeketh, but not in its right place doth he seek it. As, if thou shouldest seek some righteous man in a country, wherein he lived not, it would be said to thee, A good man thou seekest, a great man thou seekest, seek him still, but not here; in vain thou seekest him here, thou wilt never find him. Good days thou seekest, together let us seek them, seek not here. ...Read the Scriptures. ...
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then he adds his teaching when he says, "Who is the man?" And concerning this he does two things. First, he teaches the fruit of fear. Second, the teaching itself, at "Keep." He says therefore, "Who is the man who desires life?" For a person …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): What man is he that desireth life? that is, as it follows, not only to see many days, but to see good comfortable days. Non est vivere, sed valere, vita--It is not being, but well being, that constitutes life. It is asked, "Who wishes to live a long and pleasant life?" and it is easily answered, Who does not?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
What man is he that desireth life?....
To enforce this good counsel he shows God's favour to the righteous and his displeasure against the wicked, in which he sets before us good and evil, the blessing and the curse,
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Life spent in happiness is the desire of all, and he who can give the young a receipt for leading a happy life deserves to be popular among them. Mere existence is not life; the art of living, truly, really, and joyfully living, it is not given to all men to know. To teach men how to live and how to die, is the aim of all useful religious instruction. The rewards of virtue are the baits with which the young are to be drawn to morality.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
What man--Whoever desires the blessings of piety, let him attend. Sins of thought included in those of speech (Lu 6:45), avoiding evil and doing good in our relations to men are based on a right relation to God.
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 1Pe 3:10-12 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| הָ֭אִישׁ | haish | [is] the person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| הֶחָפֵ֣ץ | hechafetz | <the> desiring | H2655 → | 12 times |
| חַיִּ֑ים | chaiyim | life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| אֹהֵ֥ב | ʾohev | [who] loves? | H157 → | 211 times |
| יָ֝מִ֗ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| לִרְא֥וֹת | lirot | to see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| טֽוֹב׃ | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
הָ֭אִישׁ[is] the person
haishH376 →1663 times
הֶחָפֵ֣ץ<the> desiring
hechafetzH2655 →12 times
חַיִּ֑יםlife
chaiyimH2416 →498 times
אֹהֵ֥ב[who] loves?
ʾohevH157 →211 times
יָ֝מִ֗יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
לִרְא֥וֹתto see
lirotH7200 →1300 times
טֽוֹב׃good
tovH2896 →538 times
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
Psalms 91:16With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:2
for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
- Proverbs 3:16
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
- Psalms 21:4
He asked You for life, and You granted it— length of days, forever and ever.
- Psalms 50:23
He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”
- Isaiah 65:20–22
No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails…
- Proverbs 3:2
Through
Deuteronomy 30:20and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore…
it leads to
- John 11:25–26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
- Deuteronomy 10:20
You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.
- John 17:3
Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
- John 11:25–26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 34; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.