Psalms 136:5
in Psalms 136By His insight He made the heavens. His loving devotion endures forever.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
To him that by understanding made the heavens; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
KJV
To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
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This verse in Psalms 136
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWho made the heavens with understanding. These are the heavens which "declare the glory of God," who have put on the image of the heavenly One: and there are heavens who have not put on the image of the earthly one. With understanding, in wisdom: for Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, just as Wisdom herself also says in Proverbs: "When he made the heavens, I was with him," and the rest.
This site's exposition
He alone does great wonders
on Psalms 136:4-9
The recital starts at creation, the heavens made by His insight and the earth spread out upon the waters. The sun and moon are given dominion, memshalah, the same noun Genesis 1:16 uses of the day and the night. Henry reads the wonders as God's work with no helper.
This site's exposition
By His insight He made the heavens
Insight is tevunah, the understanding by which Proverbs 3:19 says the LORD made the heavens firm. Jeremiah 10:12 also joins His understanding to the heavens. The recital begins where Genesis 1:1 begins, with the heavens and the earth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But what means, "who alone does great wonders"? Is it because many wonderful things He has done by means of angels and men? Some wonderful things there are which God does alone, and these he enumerates, saying, "who by His wisdom made the heavens" [Psalm 136:5], "who stretched out the earth above the waters" [Psalm 136:6], "who alone made great lights" [Psalm 136:7]. For this reason did he add "alone" in this verse also, because the other wonders which he is about to tell of, God did by means of man. For having said, "who alone made great lights," he goes on to explain what these are, "the sun to rule the day" [Psalm 136:8], "the moon and stars to govern the night" [Psalm 136:9]; then he begins to tell the wonders which He did by means of angels and men: "who smote Egypt with their first-born" [Psalm 136:10], and the rest. The whole creation then God manifestly made, not by means of any creature, but "alone;" and of this creation he has mentioned certain more eminent parts, that they might make us think on the whole; the heavens we can understand, and the earth we see. And as there are visible heavens too, by mentioning the lights in them, he has bid us look on the whole body of the heavens as made by Him.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
. [2.] He raised the earth out of the waters when he caused the dry land to appear, that it might be fit to be a habitation for man, and therein also his mercy to man still endures (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
To him that by wisdom made the heavens,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
To him that by wisdom made the heavens. His goodness appears in creating the upper regions. He set his wisdom to the task of fashioning a firmament, or an atmosphere suitable for a world upon which mortal men should dwell. What a mass of wisdom lies hidden in this one creating act! The discoveries of our keenest observers have never searched out all the evidences of design which are crowded together in this work of God's hands. The lives of plants, animals, and men are dependent upon the fashioning of our heavens: had the skies been other than they are we had not been here to praise God. Divine foresight planned the air and the clouds, with a view to the human race. For his mercy endureth for ever. The Psalmist's details of mercy begin in the loftiest regions, and gradually descend from the heavens to "our low estate" (Ps 134:23); and this is an ascent, for mercy becomes greater as its objects become less worthy. Mercy is far reaching, long enduring, all encompassing. Nothing is too high for its reach, as nothing is beneath its stoop.
To him that by wisdom made the heavens. His goodness appears in creating the upper regions. He set his wisdom to the task of fashioning a firmament, or an atmosphere suitable for a world upon which mortal men should dwell. What a mass of wisdom lies hidden in this one creating act! The discoveries of our keenest observers have never searched out all the evidences of design which are crowded together in this work of God's hands.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
By wisdom made the heavens - In the contrivance of the celestial bodies, in their relations, connexions, influences on each other, revolutions, etc., the wisdom of God particularly appears.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To him that by wisdom made the heavens - Made them in so wise a manner; where so much wisdom was manifested. See Pro 3:19; Pro 8:24-31. For his mercy ... - The making of the heavens was a manifestation of mercy and goodness as furnishing an abode for unfallen and holy beings; as a dwelling-place for redeemed sinners when they shall be removed there from the earth; and as, by their order, their beauty, their harmony, and their happy influences, tending to promote the happiness of man on earth.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְעֹשֵׂ֣ה | leoseh | to [one who] made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הַ֭שָּׁמַיִם | hashamayim | <of> the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| בִּתְבוּנָ֑ה | bitvunah | by understanding | H8394 → | 42 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֣ם | leolam | [is] for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| חַסְדּֽוֹ׃ | chasdo | covenant loyalty his | H2617 → | 247 times |
לְעֹשֵׂ֣הto [one who] made
leosehH6213 →2628 times
הַ֭שָּׁמַיִם<of> the heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
בִּתְבוּנָ֑הby understanding
bitvunahH8394 →42 times
כִּ֖יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לְעוֹלָ֣ם[is] for ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃covenant loyalty his
chasdoH2617 →247 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 1:1–3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- Isaiah 45:18
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be…
- Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”
- Hebrews 1:10
And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
- Hebrews 11:3
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 136; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, Homily 47, on Psalm 135; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.