What Does Psalm 107:31 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 “goodness” named here is חֶסֶד (ḥesed, faithful love): praise answers love already present in works beyond the ordinary.
THE MEANING
Faithful love meets you through works that exceed your usual measure of explanation. Praise is recognition: it gives voice to what you have received. The closing בְּנֵי אָדָם (bənê ʾāḏām, children of Adam) widens this recognition to the human family, with אָדָם (ʾāḏām, human or ground-being) linked to אֲדָמָה (ʾăḏāmāh, ground).
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that praise depends on manufacturing a feeling; here it answers faithful love and wondrous works already present.
THE ROOT
חַסְדּוֹ
ḥasdô
GROWS FROM
חסד
Faithful love expressed through loyal kindness and action.
The Hebrew says “his ḥesed,” rendered “goodness” here and “mercy” in Psalm 136:1. The verse grounds praise in faithful love, not merely in a general sense that things are pleasant.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāsîḏ: A faithful or devoted person.
חָסִיד
It shares the root’s consonants and describes someone characterized by the faithful love named here.
ḥăsāḏîm: Acts of faithful love or kindness.
חֲסָדִים
This plural form makes the love concrete in deeds, echoing the verse’s “wonderful works.”
יוֹדוּ
yōdû
GROWS FROM
ידה
To give thanks, praise, or acknowledge.
“Let them extend their hands in thanks” in this verse is yōdû. The verb carries praise as acknowledgment: naming what has been received. The verse’s call is an answer to the LORD’s faithful love and works, not praise manufactured out of nothing.
ALSO GROWS
yōḏeh: He gives thanks or praise.
יוֹדֶה
This form from the same root shows the act of acknowledgment that the verse calls people to share.
Yəhûḏāh: Judah, a name linked with giving praise.
יְהוּדָה
Genesis 29:35 connects the name with the act of praising, letting praise appear as an identity shaped by acknowledgment.
נִפְלְאוֹתָיו
niflʾotav
GROWS FROM
פלא
To be extraordinary or marvelous, beyond the ordinary measure.
The works are פלא, wonders that exceed the familiar measure. This root gives praise room to include what cannot be reduced to the ordinary.
ALSO GROWS
pele: A wonder or marvelous thing.
פֶּלֶא
It shares all three root consonants and names the wonder contained in the verse’s works.
nifla: Wonderful or extraordinary.
נִפְלָא
This related form describes what is beyond the ordinary, the quality the verse sees in the LORD’s deeds.
THE PATTERN
Recognized faithful love and wondrous acts find their human answer in thanksgiving.
O extend your hands in thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his faithful love reaches to the ages.And he fell face down beside his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Jesus, the Anointed One, toward you.THE THREAD
O extend your hands in thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his faithful love reaches to the ages.The Hebrew word rendered “goodness” here is חֶסֶד (ḥesed), the same word rendered “mercy” in Psalm 136:1. English gives these verses different labels, while the shared word reveals one faithful love answered with thanks.
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