Psalms 96:4

For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָ֣ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
great	גָ֘ד֤וֹל ga.Dol	H1419	great (in any sense) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
greatly	מְאֹ֑ד me.'Od	H3966	properly · cardinal number, masculine singular absolute
praised	וּמְהֻלָּ֣ל u.me.hu.Lal	H1984	to be clear (orig. of sound · conjunction + verb, pual passive participle, masculine singular absolute
feared	נוֹרָ֥א no.Ra'	H3372	to fear · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
gods	אֱלֹהִֽים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute

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 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Jeremiah 10:6-7 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
Psalms 18:3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
Revelation 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy j…
Psalms 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psalms 66:3 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
Psalms 89:7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
Psalms 86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 96:1-9

These verses will be best expounded by pious and devout affections working in our souls towards God, with a high veneration for his majesty and transcendent excellency. The call here given us to praise God is very lively, the expressions are raised and repeated, to all which the echo of a thankful heart should make agreeable returns. I. We are here required to honour God, 1. With songs, Psa 96:1, Psa 96:2. Three times we are here called to sing unto the Lord; sing to the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, when the morning stars sang together, is now, in the church militant, and ever shall be, in the church triumphant. We have reason to do it often, and we have…

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John Gill on Psalms 96:4

For the Lord is great,.... In the perfections of his nature; in the works of his hands, of creation, providence, and redemption; and in the several offices he bears and executes: and greatly to be praised; because of his greatness and glory; See Gill on Psalm 48:1, he is to be feared above all gods; the angels by whom he is worshipped; civil magistrates, among whom he presides, and judges; and all the fictitious deities of the Gentiles, who are not to be named with him, and to whom no fear, reverence, and worship, are due.

John Calvin on Psalms 96:4-6

Psalm 96:4-6 4. For Jehovah is great, and greatly to be praised; he is terrible above all gods. [76] 5. For all the gods of the nations are vanities; [77] but Jehovah made the heavens. 6. Strength and honor are before him; power and glory are in his sanctuary. 4. For Jehovah is great, and greatly to be praised. He particularly describes that God, whom he would have men to celebrate, and this because the Gentile nations were prone to merge into error upon this subject. That the whole world might abjure its superstitions, and unite in the true religion, he points out the one only God who is worthy of universal praise. This is a point of the greatest importance. Unless men are restrained by a…

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The Church Fathers

"For the Lord is great, and cannot worthily be praised" [Psalm 96:4]. What Lord, except Jesus Christ, "is great, and cannot worthily be praised"? You know surely that He appeared as a Man: ye know surely that He was conceived in a woman's womb, you know that He was born from the womb, that He was suckled, that He was carried in arms, circumcised, that a victim was offered for Him, that He grew; lastly, you know that He was buffeted, spit upon, crowned with thorns, was crucified, died, was pierced with a spear; ye know that He suffered all these things: "He is great, and cannot worthily be praised." Despise not what is little, understand what is great. He became little, because you were such: let Him be acknowledged great, and in Him you shall be great....For what can a small tongue say towards the praise of the Great One? By saying, Beyond praise, he has spoken, and has given to imagination what it may conceive: as if saying, What I cannot utter, do thou reflect on; and when you shall have reflected, it will not be enough. What no man's thought utters, does any man's tongue utter? "The Lord is great, and cannot worthily be praised." Let Him be praised, and preached: His honour declared, and His house built.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 96

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

Reverence · 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58; — 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58;

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 96:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 96:1-9

John Gill on Psalms 96:4

John Calvin on Psalms 96:4-6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 96:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 96:1-9

John Gill on Psalms 96:4

John Calvin on Psalms 96:4-6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 96:4-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 96:4-6

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 96:4