What Does Psalm 34:3 Mean?
O grow the LORD great with me, and let us lift up his name together.
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
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.THE KEY
The LORD is not made greater by praise: to magnify his name is to make his nature visible among us.
THE MEANING
Together, we lift the LORD’s nature into shared sight and speech. Magnifying does not add greatness to God; it lets what is already great become clear among us.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that praise supplies God with greatness: praise makes that greatness visible; it does not create it.
THE ROOT
גַּדְּלוּ
gaddəlû
GROWS FROM
גדל
g-d-l
Grow, become great.
“grow the LORD great” in this verse is gaddəlû. The Hebrew root speaks of growth and greatness, so “magnify” points to recognizing and making greatness visible, not enlarging God. The plural command and “with me” make that recognition shared.
ALSO GROWS
gādōl: Great.
גָּדוֹל
The same root names the greatness the gathered voices are declaring.
migdal: Tower.
מִגְדָּל
This branch carries the root’s sense of rising in height, echoing the verse’s language of lifting up.
וּנְרוֹמְמָה
u-neromemah
GROWS FROM
רום
r-w-m
Rise, be high, raise up.
“lift up” in this verse is u-neromemah. The verse pairs growth with elevation: the LORD’s nature is both magnified and raised high in common expression. English gives two actions, while the Hebrew roots echo one another in making greatness rise into view.
ALSO GROWS
rām: High, exalted.
רָם
It names the elevated quality the verse brings into view.
mārôm: Height, heights.
מָרוֹם
This branch makes the root’s image of elevation concrete.
שְׁמוֹ
shemô
GROWS FROM
שם
Name, renown; a person’s expressed nature and character.
“Name” carries more than a label: it presents the nature of the one named. To exalt the LORD’s name is to raise the LORD’s character into shared view.
ALSO GROWS
shēm: Name, renown.
שֵׁם
The base noun carries the character and reputation being lifted in the verse.
shēm ṭôv: Good name, good reputation.
שֵׁם טוֹב
This phrase shows how a name can express the character associated with the one who bears it.
THE PATTERN
Shared praise makes the greatness and nature of God visible among many voices.
For I will call out the name of the LORD; make our God large.Let me praise the name of God in song, and let me grow him great with thanksgiving.So that with one passion and one mouth you may give weight to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.THE THREAD
Let me praise the name of God in song, and let me grow him great with thanksgiving.Both verses use the Hebrew root גדל (gadal, grow or become great) for “magnify.” Psalm 69:30 pairs that root with God’s name, showing how praise makes the nature named visible through shared voice.
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