What Does Psalm 107:21 Mean?
Let them extend their hands in thanks to the LORD for his faithful love, and for his wonders to the children of humankind.
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
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!THE KEY
The praise this verse calls for is open acknowledgment: naming the LORD’s faithful love and wondrous deeds as gifts reaching all humanity.
THE MEANING
You are among the children of Adam addressed here: the LORD’s faithful love and wondrous deeds reach human life. The Hebrew word translated “praise” also means give thanks and, in some forms, confess, speech that acknowledges what is true. The verse joins that acknowledgment to the LORD’s goodness toward humanity.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Praise is not empty flattery meant to persuade God; here it recognizes faithful love already expressed in the deeds described.
THE ROOT
יֹודוּ
yōdû
GROWS FROM
ידה
y-d-h
To acknowledge openly; to give thanks or praise, and in some forms, to confess.
“Let them extend their hands in thanks” in this verse is yōdû. The Hebrew word gathers praise, thanksgiving, and confession into one family of speech. Whether naming what is good or admitting what is true, the act is acknowledgment.
ALSO GROWS
todah: Thanksgiving; also a thank offering.
תּוֹדָה
Thanksgiving grows from the same root as the praise in this verse, showing gratitude as one form of its open acknowledgment.
hitvadah: To confess or acknowledge.
הִתְוַדָּה
The same root can name confession, so praise and confession share the act of speaking what is true.
חַסְדּוֹ
ḥasdô
GROWS FROM
חסד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful love expressed as loyalty and care.
The verse’s “goodness” is chesed: faithful love with the feel of commitment and care. Praise answers to this enduring character, not to a vague idea of goodness.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāsîd: A faithful or devoted person.
חָסִיד
The related word names a person by faithfulness, echoing the faithful love named in the verse.
ḥāsad: To show kindness or act faithfully.
חָסַד
This verbal form presents faithful love as something expressed through action, like the wondrous deeds for which the verse gives thanks.
אָדָם
ʾādām
GROWS FROM
אדם
ʾ-d-m
Human; in the Genesis wordplay, adam is connected with adamah, the ground.
“humankind” in this verse is ʾādām. The phrase בְּנֵי אָדָם (b’nei adam, “children of humanity”) extends the verse’s reach across the human family. The name Adam carries the echo of adamah, ground: humanity is earth formed, and the LORD’s faithful love is spoken of as reaching all people.
ALSO GROWS
adamah: Ground, soil.
אֲדָמָה
Its sound connection with adam gives “children of Adam” an earth-born depth.
b'nei adam: Children of humanity; human beings.
בְּנֵי אָדָם
This is the phrase in the verse, making the praise and the deeds it names a matter for the whole human family.
THE PATTERN
Praise gives voice to God’s faithful care by recalling what God does, and its witness reaches the human community.
Extend your hands in thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples.O extend your hands in thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his faithful love reaches to the ages.And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice gave weight to God.THE THREAD
Extend your hands in thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples.“Give thanks” in Chronicles and “praise” here come from the Hebrew root ידה (y-d-h), which holds acknowledgment, gratitude, and praise together. Both verses then turn that acknowledgment outward, naming the LORD’s deeds among people.
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