What Does 1 Chronicles 16:12 Mean?
Remember his wonders that he does, his signs, and the judgments of his mouth.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;THE KEY
Remembering God’s wonders brings what exceeds the ordinary back into view now.
THE MEANING
God’s works, wonders, and spoken judgments remain present to your awareness. Remembering them keeps visible who God is as you read the life before you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what God has done belongs only to the past and has no bearing on what you face now.
THE ROOT
זִכְרוּ
zikru
GROWS FROM
זכר
Remember, recall, bring to mind, or commemorate.
“Remember” in this verse is zikru. The verse’s opening word is an active call to bring God’s works into view. The same root appears in words for a memorial, linking remembrance with what is deliberately kept present.
ALSO GROWS
zeker: Remembrance or a memorial.
זֵכֶר
This branch shows that remembering can leave a trace that keeps what happened present.
zikkaron: A memorial or act of remembrance.
זִכָּרוֹן
Like the verse’s command, this branch describes remembrance as something given a lasting place.
נִפְלְאֹתָיו
nifla’otav
GROWS FROM
פלא
Be extraordinary or wonderful; exceed ordinary measure.
The ‘marvellous works’ are expressed with a word from the root פלא, which carries the sense of what is extraordinary. The verse pairs remembering with wonders that still invite attention because they exceed the ordinary.
ALSO GROWS
pele: A wonder or extraordinary thing.
פֶּלֶא
This branch shares the root’s sense of what calls forth wonder in the works being remembered.
nifla: Wonderful or extraordinary.
נִפְלָא
This form describes what the remembered works are like: beyond the ordinary.
מִשְׁפְּטֵי
mishpetei
GROWS FROM
שפט
Judge, decide, or establish what is right.
‘Judgments’ can sound like verdicts alone, but מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) also names a decision or ruling. Joined to ‘his mouth,’ the phrase makes God’s judgments audible: his decisions are spoken, not hidden.
ALSO GROWS
shofet: A judge or one who decides a case.
שֹׁפֵט
This branch shows the personal role behind the judgments named in the verse.
mishpat: A judgment, ruling, or just decision.
מִשְׁפָּט
This is the singular form of the word used in the verse and clarifies that these are spoken decisions.
THE PATTERN
Remembering God’s acts keeps what God has done present as a measure of what is true now.
Do not fear them, but remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.I remember the deeds of the LORD; surely I remember your wonders of old.And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.THE THREAD
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living soul of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.The same root, זכר (zakar), appears when God says, ‘I will remember my covenant.’ Here the works remembered in 1 Chronicles reveal a nature that remains active and present.
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