The Meaning of Psalms 72:13 Explained

Psalms 72:13

KJV: He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.

YLT: He hath pity on the poor and needy, And the souls of the needy he saveth,

Darby: He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and will save the souls of the needy:

ASV: He will have pity on the poor and needy, And the souls of the needy he will save.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He shall spare  the poor  and needy,  and shall save  the souls  of the needy. 

What does Psalms 72:13 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 72:12-20 - "his Name Shall Endure For Ever"
How is it that lands so distant as Tarshish, by the Strait of Gibraltar; so rich as Sheba and Seba in south Arabia; tribes so wild as the Bedouin of the desert; and nations so imperial as those beyond the River, shall own the sway of Christ? The answer is given in Psalms 72:12 -For! The world is full of sorrow and injustice, and He who can stanch flowing wounds and mete out justice to the oppressed, will win all hearts and become the acknowledged Leader of mankind.
He shall live! We cannot forget our Lord's own words: "I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore," Revelation 1:18. Jesus is possessed of the ageless life of the eternal Word, of the human life which He bore through His sojourn on earth, and of that indissoluble life in virtue of which He exercises His priesthood, Hebrews 7:17, r.v. margin.
"We pray for Christ," says; Augustine, "when we pray for His Church, because it is His body; and when we say, "˜Thy kingdom come.'" His name shall have issue, Psalms 72:17, r.v., margin. It will reproduce itself. The children of "the Name" are found in every land, and will ultimately people the world.
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 72

1  David, praying for Solomon, shows the goodness and glory of God's kingdom
18  He blessed God

What do the individual words in Psalms 72:13 mean?

He will spare on the poor and needy and the souls of the needy will save
יָ֭חֹס עַל־ דַּ֣ל וְאֶבְי֑וֹן וְנַפְשׁ֖וֹת אֶבְיוֹנִ֣ים יוֹשִֽׁיעַ

יָ֭חֹס  He  will  spare 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חוּס  
Sense: (Qal) to pity, have compassion, spare, look upon with compassion.
דַּ֣ל  the  poor 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular construct
Root: דַּל  
Sense: low, poor, weak, thin, one who is low.
וְאֶבְי֑וֹן  and  needy 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: אֶבְיׄון  
Sense: in want, needy, chiefly poor, needy person.
וְנַפְשׁ֖וֹת  and  the  souls 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: נֶפֶשׁ  
Sense: soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.
אֶבְיוֹנִ֣ים  of  the  needy 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֶבְיׄון  
Sense: in want, needy, chiefly poor, needy person.
יוֹשִֽׁיעַ  will  save 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָשַׁע 
Sense: to save, be saved, be delivered.