Psalms 148: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This psalm calls on everything in creation to praise the LORD. It starts above the earth, with angels, sun, moon, stars, and the waters above the sky, and gives the reason: God commanded and they were made, and he fixed them in place by a decree. Then it turns to the earth, calling on sea creatures, weather, mountains, trees, animals, birds, and people of every rank and age. It ends by saying God has raised up strength for his people, Israel, a people close to him.

Claim by Claim

1. 148:1
   • The psalm opens with a call to praise the LORD.
   • The hearers are told to praise the LORD from the heavens.
   • The hearers are told to praise him in the heights.
2. 148:2
   • All his angels are told to praise him.
   • All his hosts are told to praise him.
3. 148:3
   • The sun and the moon are told to praise him.
   • All the stars of light are told to praise him.
4. 148:4
   • The highest heavens are told to praise him.
   • The waters that are above the heavens are told to praise him.
5. 148:5
   • Let them praise the name of the LORD.
   • The reason is that he commanded.
   • The reason is that they were created.
6. 148:6
   • He established them for ever and ever.
   • He gave a decree.
   • It shall not pass away, which may mean the decree will never be annulled or that none shall transgress it.
7. 148:7
   • The hearers are told to praise the LORD from the earth.
   • The sea monsters are told to praise him.
   • All the deeps are told to praise him.
8. 148:8
   • Fire and hail are told to praise him.
   • Snow and smoke are told to praise him.
   • The stormy wind is told to praise him.
   • The stormy wind carries out his word.
9. 148:9
   • The mountains and all hills are told to praise him.
   • Fruit trees and all cedars are told to praise him.
10. 148:10
    • Wild animals and all cattle are told to praise him.
    • Creeping things and winged birds are told to praise him.
11. 148:11
    • Kings of the earth and all peoples are told to praise him.
    • Princes and all judges of the earth are told to praise him.
12. 148:12
    • Young men and maidens are told to praise him.
    • Old men and boys are told to praise him.
13. 148:13
    • Let them praise the name of the LORD.
    • His name alone is exalted.
    • His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
14. 148:14
    • He has raised up a horn for his people.
    • This is a praise for all his faithful ones.
    • The faithful ones are the children of Israel.
    • Israel is a people near to him.
    • The psalm closes with a call to praise the LORD.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

148:1

"Praise the LORD" translates the Hebrew word *hallelujah*, a plural command meaning "you all, praise Yah", Yah being a short form of the divine name. Where the King James prints LORD in capital letters, the Hebrew has that personal name of Israel's God (roughly *Yahweh*), not the ordinary word for "lord" or "master." The psalm opens and closes with the same word, framing everything between.

148:2

"Hosts" in older English means armies, not guests. The phrase describes the assembled ranks of heaven, angelic beings, and in some Hebrew usage the stars themselves, pictured as an army drawn up in order.

148:4

"Heavens of heavens" is a Hebrew way of saying "the very highest heavens," the same construction as "king of kings." The "waters above" reflect the picture of the world used throughout the Hebrew Bible: a dome or expanse holds back an ocean overhead, and rain falls when it is opened.

148:5

"The name of the LORD" means more than a word to call him by. It stands for who God is and everything people know about him.

148:6

"A decree which shall not pass" means a fixed order that will not be revoked or come to an end; "pass" here means pass away, not pass by. The Hebrew can also be read as a boundary that the things created will not overstep.

148:7

The King James "dragons" translates a Hebrew word (*tanninim*) used for large sea creatures (whales, crocodiles, serpents of the sea) and elsewhere for the chaotic sea monsters of ancient poetry. "Deeps" means the deep waters, the ocean depths.

148:8

"Fire" here is lightning, the fire that comes from the sky. "Vapours" in 1611 English meant mist or cloud, not steam.

148:9

Cedars of Lebanon were the largest and most valuable trees known to the writer's world, timber for palaces and temples, and a standard image for anything tall and grand.

148:10

"Fowl" is an old word for birds. "Creeping things" means small animals that crawl close to the ground, like bugs, mice and lizards.

148:11

"Judges" in the Hebrew Bible usually means those who govern and settle disputes, rulers and magistrates rather than courtroom judges in the modern sense.

148:12

"Maidens" is simply the older English word for unmarried young women. The pairs (young and old, male and female) are a way of saying "everyone, without exception."

148:13

In 1611, "excellent" meant lifted up higher than everything else, not just very good. "Glory" means the shining weight and greatness of who God is.

148:14

To "raise up a horn" is a Hebrew idiom drawn from a horned animal lifting its head: it means to give strength, victory, or restored standing. "Saints" in the King James does not mean canonized holy people; it translates a word meaning those bound to God in loyal love, his faithful ones. "A people near unto him" describes closeness of relationship, like kin or courtiers admitted to a king's presence.