Psalms 135

Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD. Praise him, all of you who serve the LORD.

1Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.

Note"Praise ye the LORD" translates the single Hebrew word *hallelu-yah*, literally "praise Yah," Yah being a short form of the divine name. It is the word that comes into English as "hallelujah." It opens and closes this psalm, a frame used for a group of psalms in this part of the book. Where the King James prints LORD in capital letters, it is standing in for that personal name of Israel's God (the four Hebrew letters usually written YHWH), which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud; "Lord" in ordinary lower case translates a different word meaning "master." The "servants of the LORD" here are most likely those on duty in the temple, not servants in the household sense.

2You who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courtyards of the house of our God,

2Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,

Note"The house of the LORD" is the temple in Jerusalem. Its "courts" were the walled open-air courtyards surrounding the building itself; ordinary worshipers gathered there, since only priests entered the inner rooms. To "stand" in them is close to "be stationed there", the language of taking up a post for service.

3praise the LORD, because the LORD is good. Sing praises to his name, because it is a delight to do so.

3Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

Note"For it is pleasant" is deliberately unanchored in the Hebrew: the "it" may be the LORD himself, his name, or the act of singing praise. Translators divide on which, and the sentence works with any of them.

4The LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, and Israel to be his own special treasure.

4For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

Note"Jacob" and "Israel" are both names for the same ancestor (Jacob was renamed Israel) and both are used as names for the whole nation descended from him. "Peculiar treasure" has nothing to do with strangeness; in 1611 "peculiar" meant "belonging to one person alone." The Hebrew word behind it, *segullah*, was used of a king's private hoard, the personal property he kept apart from the state treasury.

5I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

5For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

Note"Our Lord" translates a different Hebrew word from the LORD in capitals earlier in the verse: *adon*, meaning master or owner. "Above all gods" is a comparison with the gods worshiped by surrounding nations; the psalm does not pause to say whether they exist, only where they rank.

6Whatever the LORD wanted to do, he did, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.

6Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

Note"All deep places" refers to the deep waters, the seas and, in the picture of the world assumed here, the waters believed to lie beneath the land.

7He makes clouds rise from the far ends of the earth. He makes lightning to go with the rain. He brings the wind out of his storehouses.

7He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

Note"Treasuries" are storehouses, the sort of locked chambers where a king kept grain, gold, or weapons. The image is of weather kept in stock and issued when wanted. "Maketh lightnings for the rain" pictures lightning as what opens or accompanies a rainstorm.

8He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both people and animals.

8Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.

NoteThe killing of Egypt's firstborn was the last of the ten disasters that, in the exodus story, forced Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. "Both of man and beast" means firstborn humans and firstborn livestock alike.

9He sent signs and wonders right into your land, Egypt, against Pharaoh and against all who served him.

9Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

Note"Tokens" here means signs, the King James uses the word for a mark or proof, not a keepsake. "Signs and wonders" is the standard phrase for the plagues sent on Egypt. "Pharaoh" is a title for the king of Egypt, not a personal name, and "his servants" means his court officials.

10He struck down great nations and killed powerful kings:

10Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;

11Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan.

11Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:

NoteSihon and Og were kings east of the Jordan whom Israel defeated on the way to Canaan; the story is told in Numbers 21. The Amorites were one of the peoples living in the region, and Bashan was the fertile upland east of the Sea of Galilee. Canaan is the land west of the Jordan, divided at the time among many small city-kingdoms. Listing these three together is a compressed way of naming the whole conquest.

12He gave their land away as property to be passed down, property for Israel his people.

12And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.

Note"Heritage" translates a word for land held permanently by a family and passed from parents to children, not something bought or won afresh each generation. In Israelite law such land was not supposed to leave the family line.

13Your name, LORD, lasts forever. People will remember you, LORD, for all time to come.

13Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.

Note"Memorial" in 1611 English meant the name or reputation by which someone is remembered, not a monument. The line pairs "name" and "memorial" as near-synonyms.

14The LORD will take up his people's case and give them justice, and he will change how he deals with those who serve him, and show them pity.

14For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

Note"Judge his people" here means take up their case and decide it in their favor, the sense is closer to "vindicate" than to "put on trial." "Repent himself" is the old English for changing course or relenting; it carries no suggestion of wrongdoing being confessed. The Hebrew word can shade toward "have compassion," and both this verse and verse 13 echo the wording of Deuteronomy 32:36.

15The idols of the other nations are silver and gold, made by human hands.

15The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

Note"The heathen" simply means the other nations, the peoples outside Israel, and in the King James it is not primarily an insult. The idols described are wooden or metal figures overlaid with silver and gold.

16They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they cannot see.

16They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;

17They have ears, but they cannot hear. There is no breath at all in their mouths.

17They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.

Note"Breath" is the Hebrew word for the air of life; a thing with no breath in it is not alive. Ancient readers would also hear the contrast with statues that were ritually "opened" at the mouth in some neighboring religions so the god could eat, speak, and breathe through them.

18The people who make them end up like them, and so does everyone who trusts in them.

18They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.

19Bless the LORD, family of Israel. Bless the LORD, family of Aaron.

19Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron:

Note"House of" means family or descent line. The house of Israel is the nation as a whole; the house of Aaron is the priests, who traced their descent from Moses' brother Aaron and alone could serve at the altar.

20Bless the LORD, family of Levi. All of you who honor the LORD with awe, bless the LORD.

20Bless the LORD, O house of Levi: ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD.

NoteThe house of Levi is the wider tribe from which the priests came; Levites who were not priests handled the rest of the temple's work, music, gatekeeping, transport, maintenance. "Ye that fear the LORD" is a set phrase for worshipers; "fear" here means reverence rather than terror, and the phrase was sometimes used for non-Israelites who worshiped Israel's God. The verse thus works outward from priests to Levites to everyone else.

21May the LORD be blessed from Zion, the LORD who lives in Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!

21Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

NoteZion was originally the ridge captured by David in Jerusalem, and the name came to stand for the temple hill and then for the city itself. "Which dwelleth at Jerusalem" refers to the LORD, understood as present in the temple there. The psalm ends with the same "hallelujah" it began with.