What Does 1 Chronicles 16:25 Mean?
For great is the LORD, greatly to be praised, and held in awe above all gods.
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
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.THE KEY
Here, “fear” means awe: the verse reserves the highest awe for the LORD, above every god.
THE MEANING
The LORD is great now, praised exceedingly, and the one whose presence evokes awe above every god. Every rival power sits beneath that measure.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the idea that every power claiming divinity deserves equal awe: the LORD is above them all.
THE ROOT
נוֹרָא
nora
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear or stand in awe.
“held in awe” in this verse is nora. The word rendered “feared” carries awe before the LORD. Its root also appears in words for fear and reverence, gathering responses that English can make seem separate.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Fear, awe
יִרְאָה
It shows that the verse’s “fear” belongs to a wider Hebrew word-family of awe.
mora: Awe, dread, reverence
מוֹרָא
This branch helps explain how the same root can describe reverence as well as fear.
מְהֻלָּל
mehulal
GROWS FROM
הלל
h-l-l
To praise or celebrate.
“greatly to be praised” in this verse is mehulal. The LORD is described as praised, with the Hebrew adding מְאֹד (me’od, exceedingly). Praise here is not a detached compliment: it is voiced recognition of the greatness the verse names.
ALSO GROWS
hallel: Praise
הַלֵּל
This branch keeps the verse’s praise within the same root-family.
tehillah: Praise, song of praise
תְּהִלָּה
It shows praise taking voice as a song directed toward the one whose greatness is declared.
גָּדוֹל
gadol
GROWS FROM
גדל
g-d-l
To grow or become great.
English seems to repeat “great” in “greatly,” but the Hebrew uses גָּדוֹל (gadol, great) for the LORD and מְאֹד (me’od, exceedingly) to intensify the praise. The verse moves from who the LORD is to the praise that answers that greatness.
ALSO GROWS
gadal: To grow, become great
גָּדַל
It reveals the growth and enlargement carried by the root behind “great.”
gedullah: Greatness, majesty
גְּדֻלָּה
This branch makes explicit the greatness that the verse places at the center.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s unmatched greatness draws praise and awe beyond every rival power.
For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised; he is to be held in awe above all gods.Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness cannot be searched out.Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord, and give weight to your name? For you alone are set apart, and all the nations come and bow down before your face, for your judgments are made visible.THE THREAD
God is greatly trembled before in the intimate circle of the set-apart ones, and is held in awe above all who surround him.The KJV’s “reverence” here renders נוֹרָא (nora, awe-inspiring), from ירא (y-r-ʾ, to fear or stand in awe), the same root behind “to be feared” in this verse. English gives the forms different wording; Hebrew keeps them within one root of awe before God.
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