Psalms 95:3
in Psalms 95For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Jehovah is a great God, And a great King above all gods.
KJV
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
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This verse in Psalms 95
Commentary
4 notes on this verseWe know that there has always been a host of gods in the world, as Paul says, "There are many on the earth who are called gods," (1 Corinthians 8:5.) We are to notice the opposition stated between the God of Israel and all others which man has formed in the exercise of an unlicensed imagination.
This site's exposition
a great King above all gods
on Psalms 95:3-5
The reason for the summons is stated as fact: the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods, a claim that does not deny the existence of rival claimants so much as rank the Lord over every one of them. His rule over the deep places of the earth and the strength of the hills, the sea and the dry land, covers the whole creation top to bottom, the heights he did not climb and the depths he did not descend named as already his. Delitzsch notes the sea is his, and he made it stated as one clause, ownership resting on the fact of having made it rather than on conquest.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
(1.) He has great power: He is a great King above all gods, above all deputed deities, all magistrates, to whom he said, You are gods (he manages them all, and serves his own purposes by them, and to him they are all accountable), above all counterfeit deities, all pretenders, all usurpers; he can do that which none of them can do; he can, and will, famish and vanquish them all.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. No doubt the surrounding nations imagined Jehovah to be a merely local deity, the god of a small nation, and therefore one of the inferior deities; the psalmist utterly repudiates such an idea. Idolaters tolerated gods many and lords many, giving to each a certain measure of respect; the monotheism of the Jews was not content with this concession, it rightly claimed for Jehovah the chief place, and the supreme power.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and the heights An expression of height, like a bird that flies [up high].
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. 4 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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֣ל | ʾel | [is] a God | H410 → | 241 times |
| גָּד֣וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּמֶ֥לֶךְ | umelekh | and a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| גָּ֝ד֗וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | above | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֱלֹהִֽים׃ | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֵ֣ל[is] a God
ʾelH410 →241 times
גָּד֣וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּמֶ֥לֶךְand a king
umelekhH4428 →2525 times
גָּ֝ד֗וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
עַל־above
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֱלֹהִֽים׃gods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 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
Psalms 145:3Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.
it leads to
- Psalms 147:5
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.
- Romans 11:33
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Job 5:9
the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
- Isaiah 40:28
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
- Job 9:10
He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.
- Psalms 147:5
Through
Psalms 96:4For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:3
Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.
- Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- Jeremiah 10:6–7
There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
- Psalms 145:3
About Psalms
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.