What Does Deuteronomy 10:21 Mean in the King James?
He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
God is himself the praise that rises from the great, awe-inspiring acts your eyes have seen.
THE MEANING
God is your praise now: praise has its center in who he is and in the great acts your eyes have witnessed. The verse holds seeing and praise together, so what you see of God’s action becomes the substance of your praise.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that praise is only something you generate or perform; here God himself is named as its substance.
THE ROOT
תְּהִלָּתְךָ
tehillatekha
GROWS FROM
הלל
halal
Praise; to praise or celebrate.
The Hebrew word translated “praise” is tehillah, from the halal family. This family holds the act of praise and its expression together: God is called the praise itself, not only the one spoken of in praise.
ALSO GROWS
hillel: Praised or celebrated.
הִלֵּל
This verbal branch shows the act that gives rise to the praise named in the verse.
tehillah: Praise; a song or expression of praise.
תְּהִלָּה
This noun shares the verse’s word family and shows praise as an expression centered on God.
הַנּוֹרָאֹת
hannoraot
GROWS FROM
ירא
yare
To fear or stand in awe.
The word translated “terrible” carries the additional shade of awe-inspiring, from the yare family of fear and awe. The acts your eyes see are presented as overwhelming in scale, evoking awe.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Fear or awe.
יִרְאָה
This noun names the response evoked by the awe-inspiring acts in the verse.
nora: Awe-inspiring or fearsome.
נוֹרָא
This related form describes the quality of the acts the verse says you have seen.
THE PATTERN
God himself becomes the content of praise as his deliverance and character are recognized.
The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,THE THREAD
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.The Hebrew word translated “praises” here, tehillot, shares the הלל root with “thy praise” in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy calls God your praise; the psalm gives that connection a striking image, saying God inhabits praise.
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