What Does Romans 15:11 Mean?
And again, Praise the LORD, all you nations, and let all the peoples 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
And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.THE KEY
“Laud” repeats the Greek praise-root behind “praise,” so every nation is summoned into one shared voice.
THE MEANING
Every people is included in praise of the Lord; no nation stands outside the call. Distinct peoples remain distinct, yet their voices meet in one shared address.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that praise belongs to one people or one kind of voice: the verse names all nations and all peoples.
THE ROOT
αἰνεῖτε
aineite
GROWS FROM
αἰν-
ain-
praise, commend
The Greek verb behind “laud” adds ἐπι- to the same αἰν- praise-stem found in “praise.” English gives the parallel lines different verbs, while Greek echoes one act across the whole company of nations and peoples.
ALSO GROWS
aineō: praise
αἰνέω
This is the verb used in the first line.
epaineō: praise, commend
ἐπαινέω
This is the verb used in the second line; it retains the same praise-stem.
הַלְלוּ
halelu
GROWS FROM
הלל
halal
praise
The Hebrew Psalm this verse quotes begins with halelu, from halal, the root behind the established sense “praise.” The Greek quotation carries that call into two parallel verbs from the same praise-family, keeping the repeated summons audible across languages.
ALSO GROWS
hallelu-yah: Praise Yah
הַלְלוּיָהּ
The familiar call carries the same halal praise-root.
tehillah: praise, song of praise
תְּהִלָּה
The root’s praise also appears as a voiced song, fitting the verse’s shared call.
THE PATTERN
Praise gathers every people into one shared address to God.
Praise the LORD, all you nations; shout for him, all you peoples.Sing to the LORD a new song, and his praise from the edge of the earth, you who go down to the sea and all that fills it, the coastlands and those who settle in them.After this I see, and look, a great crowd that no one can number, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, wrapped in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. And they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Deliverance to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!THE THREAD
Praise the LORD, all you nations; shout for him, all you peoples.Romans 15:11 repeats this Psalm’s doubled call to praise. Its parallel lines keep every nation and every people within the same shared address to the LORD.
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