Psalms 81:8

Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Hear	שְׁמַ֣ע she.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
people	עַ֭מִּי 'A.mi	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
testify	וְאָעִ֣ידָה ve.'a.'I.dah	H5749	to duplicate or repeat · conjunction + verb, hiphil infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
Israel	יִ֝שְׂרָאֵ֗ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
hearken	תִּֽשְׁמַֽע tish.ma'-	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 50:7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
Exodus 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear…
John 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
Isaiah 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Isaiah 55:3-4 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies…
John 3:32-33 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
Psalms 81:13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 81:8–end

God, by the psalmist, here speaks to Israel, and in them to us, on whom the ends of the world are come. I. He demands their diligent and serious attention to what he was about to say (Psa 81:8): "Hear, O my people! and who should hear me if my people will not? I have heard and answered thee; now wilt thou hear me? Hear what is said with the greatest solemnity and the most unquestionable certainty, for it is what I will testify unto thee. Do not only give me the hearing, but hearken unto me, that is, be advised by me, be ruled by me." Nothing could be more reasonably nor more justly expected, and yet God puts an if upon it: "If thou wilt hearken unto me. It is thy interest to do so, and yet i…

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John Gill on Psalms 81:8

Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee,.... Of himself, his being, and perfections; what he was unto them, had done for them, and would do for them, as in the following verses: or "testify in thee" (d), bear witness to their spirits, that they were his people, and he was their God; this is a witness which the people of God have in themselves; it is the inward testimony of the Spirit; besides which, there is the outward testimony of the word, and which also may be here meant; for it may be rendered, I will give a testimony to thee: the law is a testimony of the will of God to his people, what he would have done, or not done; and the Gospel is a testimony of his grace, and the whole…

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John Calvin on Psalms 81:8-12

Psalm 81:8-12 8. Hear, O my people! and I will protest to thee: [412] O Israel! if thou wilt hearken to me. 9. Let there be no strange god in thee: neither worship thou a strange god. 10. I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11. But my people hearkened not to my voice, and Israel would none of me 12. And I gave them up to the thoughts [413] of their own heart: they shall walk in their own counsels. 8 Hear, O my people! The more effectually to touch the hearts of the people, God is here invested with the character of a teacher, and introduced as speaking familiarly in the midst of the congregation; and this is done for the…

The Church Fathers

Hear, my people, and I will testify to you. God is speaking to us. Whatever he said to the people, he speaks also to us. Israel, if you will hear me. Why do you ask that I hear you? Let us see what he commands.
— Jerome, Homily 13, on Psalm 80

All this, from the beginning of the Psalm up to this verse, we have heard of the oil of the press. What remains is rather for grief and warning: for it belongs to the lees of the press, even to the end; perchance also not without a meaning in the interposition of the "Diapsalma." But even this too is profitable to hear, that he who sees himself already of the oil may rejoice; he that is in danger of running among the lees may beware. To both give heed, choose the one, fear the other. "Hear, O My people, and I will speak, and will bear witness unto thee." For it is not to a strange people, not to a people that belongs not to the press: "Judge ye," He saith, "between Me and My vineyard."
— Augustine of Hippo, On the Psalms, Psalm 81

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Gittith — A stringed instrument of music. This word is found in the titles of Ps. 8, 81, 84. In these places the LXX. render the word by “on the wine-fats.” The Targum explains by “on the harp which David…

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 81:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 81:8–end

John Gill on Psalms 81:8

John Calvin on Psalms 81:8-12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 81:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 81:8–end

John Gill on Psalms 81:8

John Calvin on Psalms 81:8-12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 81:6-10

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 81:8-10

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 81:8