Psalms 150:5
in Psalms 150Praise Him with clashing cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Praise him with loud cymbals: Praise him with high sounding cymbals.
KJV
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
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This verse in Psalms 150
Commentary
9 notes on this versePraise high upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let the clash of the loudest music be the Lord's: let the joyful clang of the loftiest notes be all for him. Praise has beaten the timbrel, swept the harp, and sounded the trumpet, and now for a last effort, awakening the most heavy of slumberers, and startling the most indifferent of onlookers, she dashes together the disks of brass, and with sounds both loud and high proclaims the glories of the Lord.
This site's exposition
Praise Him with the sound of the horn
on Psalms 150:3-6
The Hebrew verb for praise stands eight times in verses 3 to 6. Seven instruments carry it: horn, harp, lyre, tambourine, strings, flute, and cymbals, clashing and resounding. Verse 6 widens the call to everything that has breath, and Charles Spurgeon reads the name YHWH as made of breathings, since all breath comes from God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Praise Him on the well-sounding cymbals, praise Him on cymbals of jubilation" [Psalm 150:5]. Cymbals touch one another in order to sound, and therefore are by some compared to our lips. But I think it better to understand that God is in a manner praised on the cymbal, when each is honoured by his neighbour, not by himself, and then honouring one another, they give praise to God. But lest any should understand such cymbals as sound without life, therefore I think he added, "on cymbals of jubilation." For "jubilation" that is, unspeakable praise, proceeds not, save from life. Nor do I think that I should pass over what musicians say, that there are three kinds of sounds, by voice, by breath, by striking: by voice, uttered by throat and windpipe, when man sings without any instrument; by breath, as by pipe, or anything of that sort: by striking, as by harp, or anything of that kind. None then of these kinds is omitted here: for there is voice in the choir, breath in the trumpet, striking in the harp, representing mind, spirit, body, but by similitudes, not in the proper sense of the words. When then he proposed, "Praise God in His saints," to whom said he this, save to themselves? And in whom are they to praise God, save in themselves? For you, says he, are "His saints;" you are "His strength," but that which He wrought in you; you are "His mighty works, and the multitude of His greatness," which He has wrought and set forth in you. You are "trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, choir, strings, and organ, cymbals of jubilation sounding well," because sounding in harmony. All these are you: let nought that is vile, nought that is transitory, nought that is ludicrous, be here thought of.
The melodious cymbal reflects the active mind affixed on its desire for Christ; the joyous cymbal the purified mind inspired by the salvation of Christ.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Praise him upon the loud cymbals,....
It is well that we are not concerned to enquire what sort of instruments these were; it is enough that they were well known then. Our concern is to know, 1.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Loud cymbals - צלצלים tseltselim. Two hollow plates of brass, which, being struck together, produced a sharp clanging sound. This instrument is still in use. What the high-sounding cymbals meant I know not; unless those of a larger make, struck above the head, and consequently emitting a louder sound.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Praise him upon the loud cymbals - literally, “the cymbals of sound” or hearing. That is, Let there be audibly expressed joy. The allusion here is to an instrument of music that was most distinctly heard in union with other instruments. The sound of the cymbal would be most clearly audible in its accompaniment of the other instruments referred to, as the sound of cymbals, or as the “triangle” would be now. The Hebrew word rendered cymbal means a tinkling, clanging, ringing, as of metal, or of arms; then, a whirring, as of wings (compare the notes at Isa 18:1); then, any tinkling or clanging instrument, as a fish-spear or harpoon; then, cymbals, instruments of music. The cymbal, as now used, is an instrument of brass, in a circular form, like a dish, producing, when two are struck gether, a sharp, ringing sound - Webster. An instrument of this kind is evidently referred to here. The word occurs in the Bible in the following places only: Deu 28:42, rendered locust; 2Sa 6:5, rendered, as here, cymbal; Job 41:7, rendered fish-spears; and Isa 18:1, rendered shadowing with. Praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals - The cymbals of joyful voice. On the word teruah, rendered high, see the notes at Psa 89:16. A loud, lofty sound or shout, as on the reception of a conqueror, is the idea here; and the sense is, that the praise of God was to be celebrated with that which would in the highest sense express joy and triumph.
Modern Voices1 voice
No one, perhaps, but a sociologist can see whether General Booth's housing scheme is right. But any healthy person can see that banging brass cymbals together must be right. A page of statistics, a plan of model dwellings, anything which is rational, is always difficult …
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַֽלְל֥וּהוּ | haluhu | praise him | H1984 → | 165 times |
| בְצִלְצְלֵי־ | vetziltzelei- | with cymbals of | H6767 → | |
| שָׁ֑מַע | shama' | sound | H8088 → | |
| הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ | haluhu | praise him | H1984 → | 165 times |
| בְּֽצִלְצְלֵ֥י | betziltzelei | with cymbals of | H6767 → | |
| תְרוּעָֽה׃ | teruah | shouting | H8643 → | 36 times |
הַֽלְל֥וּהוּpraise him
haluhuH1984 →165 times
בְצִלְצְלֵי־with cymbals of
vetziltzelei-H6767 →
שָׁ֑מַעsound
shama'H8088 →
הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּpraise him
haluhuH1984 →165 times
בְּֽצִלְצְלֵ֥יwith cymbals of
betziltzeleiH6767 →
תְרוּעָֽה׃shouting
teruahH8643 →36 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
1 Chronicles 15:16David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 13:8
David and all the Israelites were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and on harps and lyres, with tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 16:42
Heman and Jeduthun had with them trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for the songs of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 13:8
Through
1 Chronicles 25:1Additionally, David and the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy with the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The following is the list…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 6:33
These are the men who served, together with their sons. From the Kohathites:
- 2 Kings 3:15
But now, bring me a harpist.” And while the harpist played, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha
- 1 Chronicles 6:39
Heman’s kinsman was Asaph, who served at his right hand:
- 1 Samuel 10:5
After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded…
- Nehemiah 12:27
At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps,…
- 1 Chronicles 6:33
Through
1 Chronicles 15:28So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 15:16
David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 15:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 150; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; GK Chesterton, Heretics, Ch. 6: Christmas and the Aesthetes (1905); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 150:3-5.