What Does Psalm 106:22 Mean?
Wonders in the land of Ham, and things of awe by the Sea of Reeds.
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.
King James wording
King James Version
Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.THE KEY
The same scene holds wonder and fearsome awe, so what overwhelms you is not only threat.
THE MEANING
At the edge of what you can cross, wonder and dread occupy the same moment. What feels overwhelming does not exhaust what is present there; something beyond your measure is also being made visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a place of fear contains only danger; the verse lets awe and wonder occupy that very place.
THE ROOT
נִפְלָאוֹת
nifla’ot
GROWS FROM
פלא
p-l-ʾ
To be extraordinary or wondrous, beyond ordinary human measure.
“Wondrous works” in this verse is nifla’ot. Nifla’ot comes from פלא, the seed behind what exceeds ordinary capacity, not merely a striking sight. The related hifli means to act wondrously, while pele names the wonder itself: the verse’s works are actions that exceed what the eye can account for.
ALSO GROWS
pele: Wonder, extraordinary deed
פֶּלֶא
It names the wonder itself, the same extraordinary quality carried by the works in this verse.
hifli: To act wondrously
הִפְלִיא
It shows that the root can describe an action, not only a remarkable thing to behold.
nifla: Wonderful, extraordinary
נִפְלָא
It shares the verse’s root and describes what lies beyond the ordinary.
נוֹרָאוֹת
nora’ot
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“things of awe” in this verse is nora’ot. The English “terrible” can suggest only harm, but nora’ot carries the quality of what overwhelms and awakens awe. Beside the wonders, it lets dread and astonishment coexist in the same encounter.
ALSO GROWS
yare: To fear or stand in awe
יָרֵא
It reveals the response within “terrible”: an encounter that inspires awe as well as fear.
yir’ah: Fear, reverence, awe
יִרְאָה
It shows how the root holds both trembling and reverence.
nora: Fearsome, awe-inspiring
נוֹרָא
It is the singular form behind “terrible things,” with the sense of what overwhelms human measure.
THE PATTERN
The extraordinary becomes visible within the world people inhabit and can exceed their measure.
Who is like you among the mighty ones, O LORD? Who is like you, majestic in being set apart, awe-inspiring in praises, doing wonders?Who makes great things beyond searching, and wonders without number.Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man shown forth by God among you through works of strength and wonders and signs, which God did through him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know.THE THREAD
You are the God who makes wonders; you make known your strength among the peoples.This verse uses the same פלא seed for “wonders” and places those wonders beside strength made known among people. It opens Psalm 106:22 further: wonder is power becoming perceptible at the very boundary that evokes awe.
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