What Does Psalm 145:4 Mean in the King James?
One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
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
The verse makes praise a relay: what one generation sees in God’s strength becomes the next generation’s inheritance.
THE MEANING
The work of God does not end at the edge of one lifetime. What one generation sees is carried into another’s hearing, placing you within a living chain of praise and testimony. The mighty acts are deeds remembered and spoken, not abstract claims.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that a generation’s encounter with God’s works belongs only to itself; each witness stands within a chain that continues beyond one lifetime.
THE ROOT
גְּבוּרֹתֶיךָ
gevurotecha
GROWS FROM
גבר
g-b-r
to be strong, prevail
“mighty acts” in this verse is gevurotecha. What is carried onward is more than information: these are acts of strength that prevail. The testimony passes on evidence of what has shown its power.
ALSO GROWS
gābar: to be strong; prevail
גָּבַר
This verb reveals the force inside the mighty acts: something has stood strong and prevailed.
gibbor: a mighty one; warrior
גִּבּוֹר
The mighty one shares the same root, linking these acts to strength made visible.
gevurah: might; strength
גְּבוּרָה
This noun names the strength that the verse says one generation declares to another.
יַגִּידוּ
yaggidu
GROWS FROM
נגד
n-g-d
to make known, tell; to be in front
The verb means to make known or declare. Related words carry the sense of something placed before another, so the mighty acts are brought into view for the next generation.
ALSO GROWS
higgid: declared; made known
הִגִּיד
This is the same verb family: telling brings what happened into another person’s hearing.
neged: before; in front of
נֶגֶד
This related word makes the act of declaring feel like placing the deeds before the listener.
nagid: leader; prince
נָגִיד
The shared root links what is made known with what stands at the front.
THE PATTERN
God’s works become a shared inheritance when one generation tells them to the next.
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.THE THREAD
Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?Both verses use גְּבוּרָה (gevurah, might that prevails) for the LORD’s mighty acts. Psalm 145 describes one generation handing them on; Psalm 106 asks who could tell them all, because no single voice exhausts them.
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