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Psalms 135:13

in Psalms 135

Your name, O LORD, endures forever, Your renown, O LORD, through all generations.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thy name, O Jehovah, endureth for ever; Thy memorial name, O Jehovah, throughout all generations.

KJV

Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.

This verse in Psalms 135

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)

Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever. God's name is eternal, and will never be changed. His character is immutable; his fame and honour also shall remain to all eternity. There shall always be life in the name of Jesus, and sweetness and consolation. Those upon whom the Lord's name is named in verity and truth shall be preserved by it, and kept from all evil, world without end. Jehovah is a name which shall outlive the ages, and retain the fulness of its glory and might for ever. And thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.

This site's exposition

Your name, O LORD, endures forever

on Psalms 135:13-14

Verse 13 puts the LORD's name and renown beyond every generation. Verse 14 stands almost word for word at Deuteronomy 32:36, where the LORD vindicates His people and has compassion on His servants. The Hebrew behind compassion is nacham, glossed to be sorry and to comfort.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Exposition on Psalm 135 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Then follows the loud cry of His praise. "Thy Name, O Lord, is for ever and ever" (ver. 13), after all these things which Thou hast done. For what do I see that Thou hast done? I behold Thy creation which Thou hast made in heaven, I behold this lower part, where we dwell, and here I see Thy gifts of clouds, and winds, and rain. I regard Thy people; Thou leddest them from the house of bondage, and didst signs and wonders upon their enemies. Thou punishedst those who caused them trouble, Thou dravest the wicked from their land, Thou killedst their kings, Thou gavest their land to Thy people: I have seen all these things, and filled with joy have said, "Lord, Thy Name is for ever and ever." ...All these things then did God overthrow, in the body at that time, when our fathers were led out of the land of Egypt, in the spirit now. Nor does His Hand cease until the end. Therefore deem not that these mighty deeds of God were then finished and have ceased. "Thy Name, O Lord," he says, "is for ever." That is, Thy loving-kindness ceaseth not, Thy hand ceaseth not for ever from doing these things, which then Thou didst afore declare in a figure. "But they are written for our admonition, on whom the end of the ages is come." One generation and another generation; the generation by which we are made the faithful, and are born again by baptism; the generation by which we shall rise again from the dead, and shall live with the Angels for ever. Thy Memorial, O Lord, is above this generation, and above that; for neither doth He now forget to call us, nor then will He forget to crown us.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

15 , where, when God had called himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he adds, This is my name for ever and this is my memorial unto all generations. God is, and will be, always the same to his church, a gracious, faithful, wonder-working God; and his church is, and will be, the same to him, a thankful praising people; and thus his name endures for ever.
Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)

proposed

Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever. God's name is eternal, and will never be changed. His character is immutable; his fame and honour also shall remain to all eternity. There shall always be life in the name of Jesus, and sweetness and consolation. Those upon whom the Lord's name is named in verity and truth shall be preserved by it, and kept from all evil, world without end. Jehovah is a name which shall outlive the ages, and retain the fulness of its glory and might for ever. And thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations. Never shall men forget thee, O Lord. The ordinances of thine house shall keep thee in men's memories, and thine everlasting gospel and the grace which goes therewith shall be abiding reminders of thee. Grateful hearts will for ever beat to thy praise, and enlightened minds shall continue to marvel at all thy wondrous works. Men's memorials decay, but the memorial of the Lord abideth evermore. What a comfort to desponding minds, trembling for the ark of the Lord! No, precious Name, thou shalt never perish! Fame of the Eternal, thou shalt never grow dim! This verse must be construed in its connection, and it teaches us that the honour and glory gained by the Lord in the overthrow of the mighty kings would never die out. Israel for long ages reaped the benefit of the prestige which the divine victories had brought to the nation. Moreover, the Lord in thus keeping his covenant which he made with Abraham, when he promised to give the land to his seed, was making it clear that his memorial contained in promises and covenant would never be out of his sight. His name endures in all its truthfulness, for those who occupied Israel's land were driven out that the true heirs might dwell therein in peace.
Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever - Thou art the ever-living, the unchanging God. The generations of people pass away; the kingdoms of the earth change; the idols perish, but thou art the same. The object here seems to be to bring the image or the idea of God before the mind as he was when he performed these great works, as a God interposing in behalf of his people, and as worthy of praise. The idea is that he is the same now that he was then; and as he then impressed the world with a sense of his majesty and power, and as he then interposed in behalf of his people by mighty signs and wonders, we should feel that, being an unchangeable God, he can do it now, and is now equally worthy. of confidence, adoration, and praise. And thy memorial - Thy remembrance; the memory of thyself. That is, What thou hast done to secure a remembrance among people is of such a nature as to make the same impression to all coming time. The events were such that the memory of them should never pass away from mankind. Throughout all generations - Margin, as in Hebrew, To generation and generation. There never will be a generation on the earth, in the latest periods, to which the memory of these things should not be transmitted.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

O Lord, Your name is eternal Like Your greatness and Your authority then, so is it also now, and You have the power to judge and to avenge us.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Psalms 135:13:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
For the Lord will judge His people He will judge their judgment from their enemies.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Psalms 135:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • יְ֭הוָהO Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • שִׁמְךָ֣name your

    shimkhaH8034 →864 times

  • לְעוֹלָ֑ם[is] for ever

    leolamH5769 →438 times

  • יְ֝הוָ֗הO Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • זִכְרְךָ֥remembrance your

    zikhrekhaH2143 →23 times

  • לְדֹר־[is] to a generation

    ledor-H1755 →167 times

  • וָדֹֽר׃and a generation

    vadorH1755 →167 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Exodus 3:15

    God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My…

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 13:8

      Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Genesis 17:7–8

      I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

  • Through

    Psalms 8:1

    O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 8:9

      O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

    • Psalms 113:2–4

      Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forevermore.

    • Psalms 57:5

      Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; may Your glory cover all the earth.

    • Psalms 148:13

      Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

  • Through

    Psalms 8:9

    O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

    it leads to

    • Psalms 8:1

      O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.

  • Through

    Psalms 72:17

    May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 7:14

      Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

Where this verse is studied

About Psalms

The Hunters in the Snow. Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1565. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
The Hunters in the Snow. Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1565. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

This page draws on 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 135; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.