What Does Psalm 111:10 Mean?
The head of wisdom is awe of the LORD. All who do his commandments have good insight. His praise stands for ages.
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
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.THE KEY
Wisdom begins in awe, becomes visible in what you do, and opens into praise that outlasts the moment.
THE MEANING
Awe of the LORD opens wisdom in you now. Understanding takes shape as you do what the verse calls his commandments, and the LORD’s praise continues beyond this moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that wisdom is only knowing the right ideas, even when they leave your life untouched.
THE ROOT
יִרְאַת
yir’at
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe; toward the LORD, awe.
The verse names awe as wisdom’s beginning: the first movement is a changed orientation toward the LORD. The same root can carry both reverence and fear, holding wonder and trembling together.
ALSO GROWS
yare: To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
יָרֵא
The verb shows this as an orientation toward the LORD, not merely a moment of alarm.
mora: Fear, reverence, or awe.
מוֹרָא
This noun from the same root names the felt response that the verse places at wisdom’s threshold.
עֹשֵׂיהֶם
oseihem
GROWS FROM
עשה
ʿ-s-h
To do, make, or accomplish.
English can make understanding sound like an inward possession; the verse locates it among those who do. Since this root also means “make,” understanding takes form in what a person does.
ALSO GROWS
oseh: One who does or makes.
עֹשֶׂה
This participle names a person by the action they carry out, matching the verse’s link between understanding and doing.
ma’aseh: A deed, work, or act.
מַעֲשֶׂה
The same root names the action itself, showing how understanding becomes visible in lived practice.
תְּהִלָּתוֹ
tehillato
GROWS FROM
הלל
h-l-l
To praise, celebrate, or speak well of.
The psalm opens with “Praise ye the LORD” and closes with “his praise,” returning to the same root. Praise frames the movement from wisdom and understanding to what endures.
ALSO GROWS
hallelu-yah: Praise the LORD.
הַלְלוּ־יָהּ
This same root opens Psalm 111, so the verse’s final praise echoes the psalm’s first word.
tehillah: Praise or a song of praise.
תְּהִלָּה
This noun from the same root makes praise something voiced; here it is the LORD’s praise, continuing beyond the moment.
THE PATTERN
Awe of the LORD opens wisdom, and wisdom becomes visible in a life that does what God says.
The awe of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the set-apart ones is discernment.Praise the LORD. Flourishing is the man who is in awe of the LORD, who greatly delights in his commands.Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock.THE THREAD
The awe of the LORD is clean, and stands for the ages; the judgments of the LORD are truth, aligned together.“The fear of the LORD” repeats the same Hebrew root ירא (y-r-ʾ, yare: to fear or stand in awe) found in this verse. Psalm 19 links that awe to what endures, deepening the final phrase about the LORD’s praise.
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