What Does Psalm 108:3 Mean in the King James?
I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
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
What English calls praise is two distinct acts here: acknowledging with thanks and making music, both carried among other peoples.
THE MEANING
Your praise takes voice among people: you acknowledge the LORD with thanks and carry that praise in song among the nations. The verse holds gratitude and music together as one expression that moves through shared human space.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that praise is only a private feeling; here it is spoken and sung among others.
THE ROOT
אוֹדְךָ
’odekha
GROWS FROM
ידה
y-d-h
Acknowledge, confess, give thanks, or praise.
The Hebrew verb holds praise close to acknowledgment and thanksgiving. The verse’s first act is to name the LORD with gratitude; the second turns that acknowledgment into song.
ALSO GROWS
todah: Thanksgiving or praise.
תּוֹדָה
This noun from the same root makes explicit the gratitude carried within the verse’s act of praise.
Yehudah: Judah; a name associated with praise.
יְהוּדָה
In Genesis 29:35, Leah says, “Now will I praise the LORD,” and names her son Judah; praise becomes a name as well as an utterance.
וַאֲזַמֶּרְךָ
va’azammerkha
GROWS FROM
זמר
z-m-r
Sing or make music.
“sing praises” in this verse is va’azammerkha. This is not a repetition of the first Hebrew verb: yadah names thankful acknowledgment, while zamar gives it musical form. English uses “praise” for both and can conceal that movement from gratitude into song.
ALSO GROWS
mizmor: A psalm or song.
מִזְמוֹר
The same root names a kind of song, showing that the verse’s music belongs to the language of psalm-making.
zimrah: Song or music.
זִמְרָה
This related noun makes the musical quality of zamar audible: the praise is voiced as song.
THE PATTERN
Praise becomes shared expression when thankful acknowledgment is carried outward in song.
I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.THE THREAD
And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.“Praise” in this verse and “praise” in Psalm 108:3 come from ידה (y-d-h), the root of acknowledging and giving thanks. In Genesis, that praise is compressed into the name Judah; here it is voiced among peoples and nations.
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