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Psalms 19:3

in Psalms 19

Without speech or language, without a sound to be heard,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

There is no speech nor language; Their voice is not heard.

KJV

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

This verse in Psalms 19

Commentary

12 notes on this verse

A commentator

Gregory of Nyssa

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 1:3.21 · Written before 395.

The accord and affinity of all things with one another that is controlled in an orderly and sequential manner is the primal, archetypal, true music. It is this music that the conductor of the universe skillfully strikes up in the unspoken speech of wisdom through these ever-occurring movements.

This site's exposition

Without speech or language

on Psalms 19:3-4

There is no sound to be heard, and the voice still reaches all the earth. Paul quotes this line at Romans 10:18, answering whether they have heard. In the heavens a tent is pitched for the sun.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

354–430

Exposition on Psalm 19 · Written before 430.

proposed

"There is no speech nor language, in which their voices are not heard" [Psalm 19:3]. In which the voices of the Evangelists have not been heard, seeing that the Gospel was preached in every tongue.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Exposition on Psalm 19 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

"There is no speech nor language, in which their voices are not heard" [Psalm 19:3]. In which the voices of the Evangelists have not been heard, seeing that the Gospel was preached in every tongue.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Exposition on the Psalms of David · Written before 1274.

proposed

Likewise, secondly, teaching is impeded by the variety of languages; but this teaching is not impeded thereby, because "there are no speeches nor languages" -- that is, whatever those tongues or nations may be, they can be instructed in divine wisdom and power, and this …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): There is no speech nor language (no nation, for the nations were divided after their tongues, Gen. x. 31, 32 ) where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone through all the earth (the equinoctial line, suppose) and with it their words to the end of the world, proclaiming the eternal power of God of nature,

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Heard - Or, understood; there are divers nations in the world, which have several languages, so that one cannot discourse with, or be understood by another, but the heavens are such an universal teacher, that they can speak to all people, and be clearly understood by all.
5 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard,....

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard - Margin, Without these their voice is heard. Hebrew, “without their voice heard.” The idea in the margin, which is adopted by Prof. Alexander, is, that when the heavens give expression to the majesty and glory of God, it is not by words - by the use of language such as is employed among men. That is, there is a silent but real testimony to the power and glory of their great Author. The same idea is adopted substantially by DeWette.

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 1 (1869)

"There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard." Every man may hear the voices of the stars. Many are the languages of terrestrials, to celestials there is but one, and that one may be understood by every willing mind. The lowest heathen are without excuse, if they do not discover the invisible things of God in the works which he has made. Sun, moon, and stars are God's traveling preachers; they are apostles upon their journey confirming those who regard the Lord, and judges on circuit condemning those who worship idols.

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 1 (1869)

proposed

"There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard." Every man may hear the voices of the stars. Many are the languages of terrestrials, to celestials there is but one, and that one may be understood by every willing mind. The lowest heathen are without excuse, if they do not discover the invisible things of God in the works which he has made. Sun, moon, and stars are God's traveling preachers; they are apostles upon their journey confirming those who regard the Lord, and judges on circuit condemning those who worship idols. The margin gives us another rendering, which is more literal, and involves less repetition; "no speech, no words, their voice is not heard;" that is to say, their teaching is not addressed to the ear, and is not uttered in articulate sounds; it is pictorial, and directed to the eye and heart; it touches not the sense by which faith comes, for faith cometh by hearing. Jesus Christ is called the Word, for he is a far more distinct display of Godhead than all the heavens can afford; they are, after all, but dumb instructors; neither star nor sun can arrive at a word, but Jesus is the express image of Jehovah's person, and his name is the Word of God.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard - Leave out the expletives here, which pervert the sense; and what remains is a tolerable translation of the original: - אין אמר ואין דברים בלי נשמע קולם Ein omer veein debarim, beli nishma kolam. “No speech, and no words; their voice without hearing.” בכל הארץ יצא קום ובקצה תבל מליהם Bechol haarets yatsa kavvam: Ubiktsey thebel milleyhem. “Into all the earth hath gone out their sound; and to the extremity of the habitable world, their eloquence.” The word קו kau, which we translate line, is rendered sonus, by the Vulgate, and φθαγγος, sound, by the Septuagint; and St. Paul, Rom 10:18, uses the same term. Perhaps the idea here is taken from a stretched cord, that emits a sound on being struck; and hence both ideas may be included in the same word; and קום kavvam may be either their line, or cord, or their sound. But I rather think that the Hebrew word originally meant sound or noise; for in Arabic the verb kavaha signifies he called out, cried, clamavit. The sense of the whole is this, as Bishop Horne has well expressed it: - “Although the heavens are thus appointed to teach, yet it is not by articulate sounds that they do it. They are not endowed, like man, with the faculty of speech; but they address themselves to the mind of the intelligent beholder in another way, and that, when understood, a no less forcible way, the way of picture or representation. The instruction which the heavens spread abroad is as universal as their substance, which extends itself in lines, or rays. By this means their words, or rather their significant actions or operations, מליהם, are everywhere present; and thereby they preach to all the nations the power and wisdom, the mercy and lovingkindness, of the Lord.” St. […]

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.

  • אֵֽין־there not

    ʾein-H369789 times

  • אֹ֭מֶר[is] speech

    ʾomerH5626 times

  • וְאֵ֣יןand there not

    veeinH369789 times

  • דְּבָרִ֑ים[are] words

    devarimH16971440 times

  • בְּ֝לִ֗יnot

    beliH109758 times

  • נִשְׁמָ֥ע[is] heard

    nishma'H80851159 times

  • קוֹלָֽם׃voice their

    kolamH6963506 times

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

The walk

5 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

    Deuteronomy 4:19

    When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to…

    it leads to

    • Romans 1:25

      They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.

    • Deuteronomy 17:3

      and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—

    • 2 Kings 21:3

      For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped…

    • Genesis 1:16–18

      God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.

    • 2 Kings 17:16

      They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served…

Where this verse is studied

About Psalms

The Starry Night. Vincent van Gogh, 1889. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
The Starry Night. Vincent van Gogh, 1889. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
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 19; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Gregory of Nyssa, ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 1:3.21; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.