What Does Deuteronomy 32:3 Mean?

For I will call out the name of the LORD; make our God large.

Deuteronomy 32:3 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

THE KEY

A name is a nature made audible: the LORD’s greatness is recognized as God’s character is proclaimed.

THE MEANING

The LORD’s nature is spoken into the open, and God’s greatness is recognized together. The verse moves from “the LORD” to “our God”: the one proclaimed is also the one held in common.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the assumption that a name is only a label: here, the name carries the character being proclaimed.

THE ROOT

אֶקְרָא

ʾeqrāʾ

GROWS FROM

קרא

q-r-ʾ

To call out, call by name, or summon; from this, to proclaim or read aloud.

“call out” in this verse is ʾeqrāʾ. The verb translated “publish” is a call made public. It is paired with ⁨שֵׁם⁩ (shem, name), which carries the nature of the one named: the LORD’s character is what this declaration puts into view.

ALSO GROWS

qārāʾ: To call, proclaim, or read aloud.

קָרָא

The verse’s “publish” is this act of calling out the LORD’s name.

miqrāʾ: A convocation or public reading.

מִקְרָא

The same root connects calling aloud with what is gathered and made public.

גֹּדֶל

gōdel

GROWS FROM

גדל

g-d-l

To grow, become great, or make great.

“make our God large” in this verse is gōdel. The English noun can sound like a fixed measure, but its root carries the sense of becoming great. Here, greatness is voiced as something already belonging to God, not something the speaker creates.

ALSO GROWS

gādōl: Great or large.

גָּדוֹל

It shares the root’s sense of magnitude with the “greatness” being ascribed.

migdal: A tower.

מִגְדָּל

The same root appears in a structure that rises visibly, giving the root’s idea of greatness a concrete form.

THE PATTERN

God’s name is made public as people voice the greatness and character already carried in that name.

O grow the LORD great with me, and let us lift up his name together.

Psalm 34:3 · SDVThe name is exalted through a shared declaration, just as this verse joins proclamation with ascribed greatness.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Rise and bless the LORD your God from age to age, and blessed be your weighty name, which is lifted above all blessing and praise.

Nehemiah 9:5 · SDVGod’s name is praised as exalted, linking the name with the greatness being voiced.

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.

Revelation 15:4 · SDVGod’s name is glorified alongside God’s uniqueness and revealed judgments, showing the name made known through character.

THE THREAD

And the LORD passed by before his face, and called out, The LORD, The LORD God, compassionate and full of favor, slow to flare, abounding in faithful love and truth,

Exodus 34:6 · SDV

The verb “proclaimed” is ⁨קָרָא⁩ (qārāʾ, call or proclaim), the same root as Deuteronomy’s “publish.” Here the name is spoken through the LORD’s nature, compassion, favor, patience, goodness, and truth, revealing what it carries.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us