Psalms 149

Praise the LORD. Sing a new song to the LORD. Sing his praise when his faithful people gather together.

1Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

Note"Praise ye the LORD" translates the single Hebrew word *hallelujah*, a plural command meaning "praise Yah" (a shortened form of the divine name. It opens and closes this psalm like a frame. "LORD" in small capitals stands wherever the Hebrew has that name, YHWH, which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud. A "new song" is a fixed expression in the Psalms for a song composed in response to a fresh act of rescue or victory, rather than a song nobody has sung before. "Congregation" means the assembled community of Israel gathered for worship, not a building. KJV "saints" renders a Hebrew word (*chasidim*) meaning those bound to God in loyal love) his committed or faithful ones; it does not carry the later sense of canonised holy individuals.

2Let Israel be glad because of the God who made them. Let the people of Zion be full of joy because of their King.

2Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

NoteZion was originally the fortified hill captured by David in Jerusalem; the name came to stand for the whole city, its temple, and by extension its people. "Children of Zion" is a Hebrew idiom for the city's inhabitants, the way "sons of a place" meant those who belonged to it.

3Let them praise his name with dancing. Let them make music for him with the tambourine and the harp.

3Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

NoteThe "timbrel" was a small hand drum, a hoop with a skin stretched over it, played mainly by women leading public celebrations after a victory. Dancing here means processional or circle dancing performed in public worship, a normal part of Israelite festival celebration rather than a private or informal act.

4The LORD is pleased with his people. He clothes the humble with beauty by saving them.

4For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

Note"Meek" in 1611 English meant lowly, afflicted, or brought down, the poor and oppressed, rather than the modern sense of timid or submissive in temperament. "Beautify... with salvation" pictures putting fine clothing or ornament on someone; the Hebrew word behind "salvation" means rescue or victory, deliverance from a concrete danger or enemy.

5Let his faithful people celebrate this honor. Let them sing out loud even on their beds.

5Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.

Note"Glory" here means honor or high standing, the dignity just described in verse 4, now given to them. "Upon their beds" is disputed: it may mean praising God at night or at home, away from the sanctuary, or it may echo the picture of resting secure after victory. The Hebrew leaves it open.

6Let high praises of God be in their mouths, and a sword sharpened on both edges be in their hands.

6Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

Note"Two-edged sword" translates a Hebrew phrase literally meaning "a sword of two mouths", a blade sharpened on both sides. The verse sets praise in the mouth alongside the sword in the hand without saying how the two relate; readers have long disagreed over whether the language is literal warfare or figurative.

7They go to pay back the nations for the wrong they have done, and to punish the peoples.

7To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;

Note"Heathen" in the KJV simply renders the Hebrew word for "nations", the peoples outside Israel, and carries no sense of savagery or irreligion in itself. "Vengeance" here is a legal idea: the punishment owed for wrongs done, carried out by rightful authority, not personal revenge.

8They go to tie up the kings of those nations with chains, and their leading men with iron shackles.

8To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

NoteLeading captured kings and nobles away in chains was standard practice among ancient Near Eastern conquerors, and defeated rulers in shackles were displayed in victory processions and carved on monuments. "Fetters" are shackles for the feet or ankles. "Nobles" means the ruling class, the men of rank around a king.

9They go to carry out against them the sentence that has already been written down. This honor belongs to all his faithful people. Praise the LORD.

9To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.