Psalms 24: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

The psalm opens by declaring that the earth and everyone in it belong to the LORD, who set it in place over the seas. It then asks who may go up to the LORD's hill and stand in his holy place, and answers that it is the person with clean hands, a pure heart, and honest speech. The second half calls out to the gates to open wide so the King of glory can come in, and twice asks and answers who that King is: the LORD, strong in battle, the LORD of armies.

Claim by Claim

1. 24:1
   • This is a psalm of David.
   • The earth belongs to the LORD.
   • Everything that fills the earth belongs to the LORD.
   • The world belongs to the LORD.
   • Those who dwell in the world belong to the LORD.
2. 24:2
   • The LORD founded the earth upon the seas.
   • The LORD established the earth upon the rivers.
3. 24:3
   • The question is asked: who may go up the mountain of the LORD?
   • The question is asked: who may stand in the LORD's holy place?
4. 24:4
   • The one who may ascend and stand has clean hands.
   • The one who may ascend and stand has a pure heart.
   • That person has not lifted up his soul to what is empty or false.
   • That person has not sworn deceitfully.
5. 24:5
   • Such a person will receive a blessing from the LORD.
   • Such a person will receive righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6. 24:6
   • This is the generation of those who seek him.
   • They are those who seek your face.
   • The one addressed as Jacob is either Jacob himself or the God of Jacob; the text does not resolve which.
   • Selah.
7. 24:7
   • The gates are commanded to lift up their heads.
   • The everlasting doors are commanded to be lifted up.
   • The King of glory will come in.
8. 24:8
   • The question is asked: who is this King of glory?
   • The answer is that the LORD is strong and mighty.
   • The answer is that the LORD is mighty in battle.
9. 24:9
   • The gates are commanded to lift up their heads.
   • The everlasting doors are commanded to lift themselves up.
   • The King of glory will come in.
10. 24:10
    • The question is asked: who is this King of glory?
    • The answer is that it is the LORD of hosts.
    • He is the King of glory.
    • Selah.

Words Worth Explaining

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

24:1

In the King James Version, "LORD" printed in capitals stands in for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants usually written YHWH. Jewish readers avoided pronouncing it and said "my Lord" instead, and English translations have followed that custom. "The fulness thereof" means everything the earth contains.

24:2

This reflects the picture of the world common in the ancient Near East: dry land as a platform fixed in place above the waters that lie under and around it. "Founded" and "established" are building words, laying a foundation and making a structure firm.

24:3

"The hill of the LORD" is Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where the temple stood. Questions like this one appear to be part of a ceremony: worshipers arriving at the sanctuary ask who is qualified to enter, and receive the answer in the next verses.

24:4

"Clean hands" refers to what a person does, "a pure heart" to what a person intends; in Hebrew the heart was the seat of thought and will, not of feeling. The word behind "vanity" means emptiness or falsehood, and was also used of idols, so the line can mean either devoting oneself to what is worthless or worshiping a false god, and translators divide over which. "Sworn deceitfully" means taking a formal oath with no intention of keeping it.

24:5

"Righteousness" here translates a word used in the law court: a favorable verdict, being publicly declared to be in the right, rather than an inward quality.

24:6

"Generation" here means a type or class of people, not an age group. "Jacob" is the ancestor whose descendants became Israel, so his name often stands for the whole nation. The Hebrew as it stands reads "who seek your face, Jacob"; several ancient manuscripts and early translations read "the God of Jacob," which is why modern versions differ here. "Selah" is a term found throughout the Psalms whose meaning was already lost in antiquity, probably a direction to the musicians or a pause, but no one knows.

24:7

The gates of the city or temple are addressed as if alive and told to raise themselves so that someone tall may pass through. "Everlasting doors" means doors that have stood from ancient times. Many readers have understood the scene as a procession bringing the ark, the chest representing God's presence, up to the sanctuary, with this exchange sung at the entrance.

24:8

"Mighty in battle" describes God in the language used of a warrior king returning from a campaign.

24:10

"The LORD of hosts" is a standing title, in Hebrew YHWH Sabaoth. "Hosts" means armies, variously understood as Israel's fighting men, the heavenly beings around God, or the stars, and the phrase does not settle which.