What Does Psalm 22:23 Mean?
You who stand in awe of the LORD, praise him; all the seed of Jacob, give him weight; all the seed of Israel, dwell in awe of 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
Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.THE KEY
The verse says “fear” twice, but Hebrew shifts from ירא, awe, to גור, dread, while “glorify” is the act of giving the LORD weight.
THE MEANING
You are addressed among those who revere the LORD, and Israel is also called to fear him; the two English forms of “fear” come from different Hebrew verbs. Praise and honoring the LORD’s weight become a shared response, so reverence is voiced rather than kept private.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Awe and praise are opposites.
THE ROOT
יִרְאֵי
yir'ei
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“stand in awe of the LORD” in this verse is yir'ei. This is the first of the verse’s two words translated “fear.” Its Hebrew family connects the person who reveres with what inspires awe.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Awe or reverence.
יִרְאָה
The noun names the posture of those addressed as fearers of the LORD.
nora: Awe-inspiring or fearful.
נוֹרָא
The same root describes what evokes awe, linking reverence with its source.
וְגוּרוּ
weguru
GROWS FROM
גור
g-w-r
To dread or be afraid.
“dwell in awe of him” in this verse is weguru. The second “fear” comes from a different Hebrew verb than the first, giving the line a shift in shade from reverence to dread. English makes the two commands sound identical, while Hebrew preserves the distinction.
ALSO GROWS
gur: To fear or dread.
גּוּר
This is the verb behind the final command to Israel.
magor: Dread or terror.
מָגוֹר
This noun from the same root shows the fearful force carried by the second verb.
כַּבְּדוּהוּ
kabbeduhu
GROWS FROM
כבד
k-b-d
To be heavy or weighty; to carry weight.
“give him weight” in this verse is kabbeduhu. The word translated “glorify” grows from the root for weight. To glorify the LORD is to recognize his weight and treat him as weighty; praise and awe take their place around that recognition.
ALSO GROWS
kavod: Weight, honor, or glory.
כָּבוֹד
This familiar noun holds together the ideas of weight and honor that the command expresses.
kaved: Heavy or weighty.
כָּבֵד
This form makes the root’s concrete sense visible beneath the command to glorify.
THE PATTERN
Awe of the LORD gathers into voiced praise and public honor.
For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised; he is to be held in awe above all gods.Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord, and give weight to your name? For you alone are set apart, and all the nations come and bow down before your face, for your judgments are made visible.THE THREAD
Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord, and give weight to your name? For you alone are set apart, and all the nations come and bow down before your face, for your judgments are made visible.This verse pairs fearing the Lord with glorifying his name, as Psalm 22:23 pairs awe with praise and giving the LORD weight. Its scope opens from the seed of Jacob and Israel to all nations, showing awe as a force that gathers people into shared honor.
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