Psalms 105:27
in Psalms 105They performed His miraculous signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They set among them his signs, And wonders in the land of Ham.
KJV
They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
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This verse in Psalms 105
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThey showed the words of his signs (so it is in the original), for every plague had an exposition going along with it; they were not, as the common works of creation and providence, silent signs, but speaking ones, and they spoke aloud. They are all or most of them here specified, though not in the order in which they were inflicted.
This site's exposition
He sent Moses His servant
on Psalms 105:26-31
Darkness comes first in the psalm and ninth in Exodus, where it falls at Exodus 10:21. The frogs are the plague that reaches the king's own rooms. Blood in the water, dead fish, frogs, and swarms of gnats follow the darkness here.
This site's exposition
wonders in the land of Ham
Exodus 7:3 pairs the same two words, signs and wonders multiplied in the land of Egypt. The Hebrew reads the matters of His signs, divrei ototav. Moses and Aaron carry them out as His agents.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"He set forth in them the words of His tokens, and of His wonders in the land of Ham" (ver. 27). We ought not to understand by "the words of His tokens," words literally, words with which the tokens and wonders were worked, that is, which they uttered, that these tokens and wonders might take place. For many were performed without words, either with a rod, or with outstretched hand, or by ashes sent towards heaven. ...
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They showed his signs among them,.... The Egyptians to whom they were sent; that is, Moses and Aaron did. In the original it is, "the words of his signs" (x). They declared the words of God to them, that he would do such signs and wonders among them; or inflict such plagues upon them, in case they did not let Israel go: or they performed them according to the word of the Lord, as he commanded them, as well as taught the doctrines and instructions to be learned from them.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
signs--literally, "words of signs," or rather, as "words" in Hebrew means "things," "things of His signs," that is, His marvellous tokens of power (Ps 145:5, Margin).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. The miracles which were wrought by Moses were the Lord's, not his own: signs, as being the marks of Jehovah's presence hence they are here called "his" and power. The plagues were "words of his signs" (see margin), that is to say, they were speaking marvels, which testified more plainly than words to the omnipotence of Jehovah, to his determination to be obeyed, to his anger at the obstinacy of Pharaoh. Never were discourses more plain, pointed, personal, or powerful, and yet it took ten of them to accomplish the end designed. In the preaching of the gospel there are words, and signs, and wonders and these leave men without excuse for their impenitence; to have the kingdom of God come nigh unto them, and yet to remain rebellious is the unhappy sin of obstinate spirits. Those are wonders of sin who see wonders of grace, and yet are unaffected by them: bad as he was, Pharaoh had not this guilt, for the prodigies which lie beheld were marvels of judgment and not of mercy.
They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. The miracles which were wrought by Moses were the Lord's, not his own: signs, as being the marks of Jehovah's presence hence they are here called "his" and power. The plagues were "words of his signs" (see margin), that is to say, they were speaking marvels, which testified more plainly than words to the omnipotence of Jehovah, to his determination to be obeyed, to his anger at the obstinacy of Pharaoh.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They showed his signs - Here is a reference to the plagues with which God afflicted the Egyptians. See Exodus 7-12 (note), Psa 78:43 (note), and the notes on them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They shewed his signs among them - literally, “They placed among them the words of his signs.” So the margin. The reference is to the miracles performed in Egypt in bringing calamities upon the Egyptians to induce them to permit the children of Israel to go out from their bondage. They were the agents in setting these wonders before the Egyptians. The term words is employed here - “the words of his signs” - to keep up the idea that it was by the command of God that this was done, or by his word. It was by no power of their own, but only by the authority of God. And wonders in the land of Ham - Miracles. Things suited to produce astonishment. See Psa 105:5.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָֽׂמוּ־ | samu- | they performed | H7760 → | 584 times |
| בָ֭ם | vam | among them | ||
| דִּבְרֵ֣י | divrei | [the] words of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֹתוֹתָ֑יו | ʾototav | signs his | H226 → | 80 times |
| וּ֝מֹפְתִ֗ים | umofetim | and wonders | H4159 → | 36 times |
| בְּאֶ֣רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| חָֽם׃ | cham | Ham | H2526 → | 16 times |
שָֽׂמוּ־they performed
samu-H7760 →584 times
בָ֭םamong them
vam
דִּבְרֵ֣י[the] words of
divreiH1697 →1440 times
אֹתוֹתָ֑יוsigns his
ʾototavH226 →80 times
וּ֝מֹפְתִ֗יםand wonders
umofetimH4159 →36 times
בְּאֶ֣רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
חָֽם׃Ham
chamH2526 →16 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
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, On the Psalms, Psalm 105; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
