Psalms 106:2
in Psalms 106Who can describe the mighty acts of the LORD or fully proclaim His praise?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah, Or show forth all his praise?
KJV
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can shew forth all his praise?
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This verse in Psalms 106
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWho shall tell the mighty acts of the Lord? No one is worthy to proclaim the mighty acts of the Father, except the Son. No one can tell the might of the Father, except him who is himself also mighty: the mighty acts of the Mighty One he alone who is in the bosom of the Father, he who is himself mighty, can proclaim and tell. Shall he make all his praises heard? Before our Lord in the Gospel proclaimed the praises of the Father, they had not been heard in the world.
This site's exposition
for He is good
on Psalms 106:1-3
Hallelujah opens the psalm, and the call is to give thanks to the LORD for His goodness. Verse 2 asks who can describe the LORD's mighty acts. Verse 3 states what is owed before the confession begins, justice upheld and righteousness practiced at all times.
This site's exposition
Who can describe the mighty acts
Mighty acts translates gevuroth, from the word for strength, and Psalm 150:2 calls for praise for the same mighty acts. The psalm then tells those acts at the Red Sea and in the wilderness. Each one stands beside the sins of the fathers.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord?" (ver. 2). Full of the consideration of the Divine works, while he entreateth His mercy, "Who," he saith, "can express the mighty acts of the Lord, or make all His praises heard?" We must supply what was said above, to make the sense complete here, thus, "Who shall make all His praises heard?" that is, who is sufficient to make all His praises heard? "Shall make" then "heard," he saith; that is, cause that they be heard; showing, that the mighty acts of the Lord and His praises are so to be spoken of, that they may be preached to those who hear them. But who can make "all," heard? Is it that as the next words are, "Blessed are they that alway keep judgment, and do righteousness in every time" (ver. 3); he perhaps meant those praises of His, which are understood as His works in His commandments? "For it is God," saith the Apostle, "who worketh in you," ...since He worketh in these things in a manner that cannot be spoken. "Who will do all His praises heard?" that is, who, when he hath heard them, doth all His praises? which are the works of His commandments. As far as they are done, although all which are heard are not performed, He is to be praised, who "worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure." For this reason, while he might have said, all His commandments, or, all the works of His commandments; he preferred saying, "His praises." But unless there were some difference between judgment and righteousness, we should not read in another Psalm, "Until righteousness turn again unto judgment." The Scripture, indeed, loveth to place these two words together; as, "Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His seat;" and this, "He shall make thy righteousness as clear as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day;" where there is apparently a repetition of the same sentiment. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?....
He is good and his mercy endures for ever; let us therefore own our obligations to him and make him a return of our best affections and services. Give him the glory of his greatness, his mighty acts, proofs of his almighty power, wherein he has done great things, and such as would be opposed.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
His acts exceed our comprehension, as His praise our powers of expression (Ro 11:33). Their unutterable greatness is not to keep us back, but to urge us the more to try to praise Him as best we can (Ps 40:5;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? What tongue of men or angels can duly describe the great displays of divine power? They are unutterable. Even those who saw them could not fully tell them. Who can shew forth all his praise? To declare his works is the same thing as to praise him, for his own doings are his best commendation. We cannot say one tenth so much for him as his own character and acts have already done? Those who praise the Lord have an infinite subject, a subject which will not be exhausted throughout eternity by the most enlarged intellects, nay, nor by the whole multitude of the redeemed, though no man can number them. The questions of this verse never can be answered; their challenge can never be accepted, except in that humble measure which can be reached by a holy life and a grateful heart.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? What tongue of men or angels can duly describe the great displays of divine power? They are unutterable. Even those who saw them could not fully tell them. Who can shew forth all his praise? To declare his works is the same thing as to praise him, for his own doings are his best commendation. We cannot say one tenth so much for him as his own character and acts have already done?
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? - His acts are all acts of might; and particularly those in behalf of his followers.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? - Who can speak the great things of God? Who can find language which will suitably express what he has done, or which will “come up” in sublimity to his acts? In other words, human language must fall immeasurably short of adequately expressing the praises of Yahweh, or conveying the fullness of what he has done. Who has not felt this when he has endeavored to praise God in a proper manner? Compare the notes at Psa 40:5. Who can shew forth all his praise - Hebrew, “Cause to be heard.” That is, Language cannot be found which would cause “it to be heard” in a suitable manner.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֗י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יְ֭מַלֵּל | yemalel | will he tell | H4448 → | |
| גְּבוּר֣וֹת | gevurot | [the] mighty deeds of | H1369 → | 61 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יַ֝שְׁמִ֗יעַ | yashmia' | will he proclaim? | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| תְּהִלָּתֽוֹ׃ | tehilato | praise his | H8416 → | 56 times |
מִ֗יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יְ֭מַלֵּלwill he tell
yemalelH4448 →
גְּבוּר֣וֹת[the] mighty deeds of
gevurotH1369 →61 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
יַ֝שְׁמִ֗יעַwill he proclaim?
yashmia'H8085 →1159 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
תְּהִלָּתֽוֹ׃praise his
tehilatoH8416 →56 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ephesians 1:19and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,
it leads to
- Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
- Colossians 2:12
And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.
- Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Philippians 2:13
Through
Romans 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
it leads to
- Job 11:7–9
Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- Job 5:9
the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
- Psalms 92:5
How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!
- Colossians 2:2–3
that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
- Romans 2:4
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
- Job 11:7–9
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms

This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 106; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 32, on Psalm 105; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
