What Does Psalm 117:1-2 Mean in the King James?
O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
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
Praise crosses every border because the LORD’s faithful love reaches us and the LORD’s truth holds firm through every age.
THE MEANING
Every nation and people are called into praise, while the LORD’s faithful love is great toward us and the LORD’s truth endures through every age. Praise rises from a love that remains directed toward us and a truth that does not give way.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that the LORD’s faithful love belongs only to one people is undone: the verse addresses all nations and all peoples.
THE ROOT
חַסְדּוֹ
chasdo
GROWS FROM
ח־ס־ד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful, steadfast love
The verse’s “merciful kindness” carries the sense of faithful love, not a passing warmth. Its greatness is measured by its enduring direction toward us.
ALSO GROWS
chasid: A faithful or loyal one
חָסִיד
The same root describes both the love that remains and the person characterized by that loyalty.
chasadim: Acts of faithful love
חֲסָדִים
The plural brings this love into concrete expressions; here, that faithful love is great toward us.
אֱמֶת
emet
GROWS FROM
א־מ־ן
ʾ-m-n
Firmness, steadiness, reliability
The LORD’s truth is more than a correct statement; its root carries the sense of what holds firm. That firmness is why it endures through every age.
ALSO GROWS
emunah: Trust; leaning your full weight on what is firm
אֱמוּנָה
Truth and trust share the language of steadiness: what is true can bear the weight placed on it.
amen: Firm; truly; so be it
אָמֵן
The familiar response “Amen” echoes the same root of firmness, answering truth with an affirmation that stands.
הַלְלוּ
halelu
GROWS FROM
ה־ל־ל
h-l-l
Praise
The call to praise opens the passage and returns at its close. Between those calls, the verse names what grounds them: faithful love toward us and truth that holds through every age.
ALSO GROWS
tehillah: Praise; a song of praise
תְּהִלָּה
This related word shows praise as something voiced and shared, fitting the verse’s call to every people.
hallelu-yah: Praise Yah
הַלְלוּיָהּ
The same praise-root appears in the familiar call “Hallelujah,” joining praise directly to the LORD’s name.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s faithful love and enduring truth draw praise from peoples beyond any single boundary.
Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.THE THREAD
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,The Hebrew phrase חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (chesed ve’emet, “faithful love and truth”) appears together in the description of the LORD here. Psalm 117 turns those same qualities into its reason for praise: faithful love reaches us, and truth remains.
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