What Does Psalm 109:30 Mean?
I give thanks greatly to the LORD with my mouth; in the midst of the many I praise him.
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
I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.THE KEY
The Hebrew gives praise two voices: thanks spoken to the LORD and acclaim carried into the crowd.
THE MEANING
Your mouth carries praise to the LORD, and the verse places that praise among many. It holds personal address and public witness together: the praise remains directed to the LORD as others hear it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Sincerity requires praise to remain private.
THE ROOT
אֲהַלְלֶנּוּ
ahalelenu
GROWS FROM
הלל
h-l-l
Praise or acclaim.
“praise him” in this verse is ahalelenu. The second praise verb, אֲהַלְלֶנּוּ (ahalelenu), names acclaim voiced among the multitude. Its root also gives Hebrew a word for praise itself and the familiar call to praise Yah, carrying this verse’s public praise into a wider chorus.
ALSO GROWS
tehillah: Praise; a song of praise.
תְּהִלָּה
This branch names praise as something voiced or sung, opening the verse’s public acclaim into a shared song.
hallelu-Yah: Praise Yah.
הַלְלוּ־יָהּ
The same praise-root becomes a call addressed to Yah, echoing the verse’s movement from spoken address to praise among many.
אוֹדֶה
odeh
GROWS FROM
ידה
y-d-h
Acknowledge, give thanks, or praise.
“give thanks greatly” in this verse is odeh. The first verb, אוֹדֶה (odeh), carries the sense of giving thanks or acknowledgment. Beside the second verb’s acclaim, it shows praise moving from what the speaker acknowledges to what the multitude hears.
ALSO GROWS
todah: Thanksgiving; thanks.
תּוֹדָה
This related word keeps the note of gratitude audible inside the verse’s first act of praise.
Yehudah: Judah, a name linked in Genesis to praise.
יְהוּדָה
The name’s connection to praise shows how this root can describe not only an act of thanks but also a people named through that act.
THE PATTERN
Praise moves from direct address to shared public witness.
I give you thanks in the great assembly; among a people of weight I praise you.Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the assembly each day those who were being delivered.And that the nations might give weight to God for compassion, as it is written, For this I will confess to you among the nations, and I will sing to your name.THE THREAD
I will recount your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.The Hebrew word translated “praise” here comes from the same הלל (h-l-l) root as the second praise verb in Psalm 109:30. Both verses place that praise in the midst of others, turning a voice directed to the LORD into shared testimony.
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