Psalm 116:15 — An Alternate Understanding
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 12:08 pm
Most Bible translators render Psalm 116:15 similar to, or identical with, the following:
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
As long as I remember, I have puzzled over this sentence. Somehow, it brings comfort to many people. But what does it mean? Why would Yahweh find the death of his saints PRECIOUS? Does He ENJOY seeing people die? I cannot think why that would comfort people, unless they think the saints go to Heaven at death, so that God's enjoyment is not in the death itself, but in the fact that He now has those saints with Him.
However, according to popular theology, that would not have been the case when the Psalms were written. For, supposedly, people didn't go to heaven until Messiah,during his ascension, "led a host of captives" from Hades to Heaven. (Eph 4:8 ESV). Mind you, I think that translation is mistaken, and the the AV and the NKJV have it right that He "led captivity captive." If captivity itself is captivated, then there REALLY is freedom! But that's another discussion. The question is, if the saints did not immediately go to Heaven to be with Yahweh, then what is the meaning of the text?
In the Septugint translation of the OT, the word translated as "precious" is "τιμιος" (timios). The word can be translated as "precious" and that works for many contexts. But the word can also be translated as "very costly." The NASB so translates it in five instances in the NT, one of which is the following:
John 12:3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
It seems that in the Masoretic Hebrew text, the word translated as "precious," namely רקי (yaqar), can also mean "very costly" as well as "precious."
When we substitute "very costly" for "precious" in the text, a possible alternative meaning comes out:
Very costly in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
My present understanding, is that God has his saints serving them here on earth, but their death COSTS God. Their death is very costly in His sight, since they are no longer alive on earth, to do His work.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
As long as I remember, I have puzzled over this sentence. Somehow, it brings comfort to many people. But what does it mean? Why would Yahweh find the death of his saints PRECIOUS? Does He ENJOY seeing people die? I cannot think why that would comfort people, unless they think the saints go to Heaven at death, so that God's enjoyment is not in the death itself, but in the fact that He now has those saints with Him.
However, according to popular theology, that would not have been the case when the Psalms were written. For, supposedly, people didn't go to heaven until Messiah,during his ascension, "led a host of captives" from Hades to Heaven. (Eph 4:8 ESV). Mind you, I think that translation is mistaken, and the the AV and the NKJV have it right that He "led captivity captive." If captivity itself is captivated, then there REALLY is freedom! But that's another discussion. The question is, if the saints did not immediately go to Heaven to be with Yahweh, then what is the meaning of the text?
In the Septugint translation of the OT, the word translated as "precious" is "τιμιος" (timios). The word can be translated as "precious" and that works for many contexts. But the word can also be translated as "very costly." The NASB so translates it in five instances in the NT, one of which is the following:
John 12:3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
It seems that in the Masoretic Hebrew text, the word translated as "precious," namely רקי (yaqar), can also mean "very costly" as well as "precious."
When we substitute "very costly" for "precious" in the text, a possible alternative meaning comes out:
Very costly in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
My present understanding, is that God has his saints serving them here on earth, but their death COSTS God. Their death is very costly in His sight, since they are no longer alive on earth, to do His work.
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