Psalms 147:20
in Psalms 147He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He hath not dealt so with any nation; And as for his ordinances, they have not known them. Praise ye Jehovah.
KJV
He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord.
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This verse in Psalms 147
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe hath not dealt so with any nation,.... Or "every nation" (b); or all the nations under the heavens; only with the Jewish nation: these only for many hundreds of years were favoured with the divine revelation, with the word and ordinances of God; with the law, and with the Gospel, and with the service and worship of God; as well as with promises and prophecies of Christ, and good things to come by him.
This site's exposition
He declares His word to Jacob
on Psalms 147:19-20
The weather of the verses before reaches every nation; the word, the statutes and the judgments go to Jacob and Israel. The psalm says plainly that no other nation received this. Matthew Henry calls it a distinguishing mercy, God's word shown to Jacob and his statutes made known through it.
This site's exposition
He has done this for no other nation
Charles Spurgeon called this election the loudest call to grateful adoration, and he read the closing Hallelujah as praise that can rise no higher. John Gill counted the gift as the law, the worship and the promises of Christ. Adam Clarke saw the ordinances pointing to glorious things ahead.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"He has not done so to the whole race" [Psalm 147:20]. Let none deceive you: it is not announced to any nation, this judgment of God; namely, how the righteous and the unrighteous suffer, how all suffer for their deserts, how the righteous themselves are freed by the grace of God, not in their own merits. This is not announced to the whole race, but only to Jacob, only to Israel. What then do we, if He has not announced it to the whole race, but only to Jacob, only to Israel? Where will we be? In Jacob. "He has not manifested His judgments to them." To whom? To all nations. How then are the "snows" called, when the crystal is melted? How are the nations called, now Paul is justified? How, save to be in Jacob? The wild olive is cut off from its stock, to be grafted into the olive: now they belong to the olive, no longer ought they to be called nations, but one nation in Christ, the nation of Jacob, the nation of Israel...What is Israel? "Seeing God." Where shall he see God? In peace. What peace? The peace of Jerusalem; for, says he, "He has set peace for your borders." There shall we praise: there shall we all be one, in One, unto One: for then, though many, we shall not be scattered.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is easy, in singing this psalm, to apply it to ourselves, both as to personal and national mercies, were it but as easy to do so with suitable affections. 1 Praise ye the L ORD : for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
He hath not dealt so with any nation. Israel had clear and exclusive knowledge of God, while others were left in ignorance. Election is the loudest call for grateful adoration. And as for his judgments, they have not known them; or, and judgments they had not known them, as if not knowing the laws of God, they might be looked upon as having no laws at all worth mentioning. The nations were covered with darkness, and only Israel sat in the light. This was sovereign grace in its fullest noontide of power. Praise ye the Lord.
He hath not dealt so with any nation. Israel had clear and exclusive knowledge of God, while others were left in ignorance. Election is the loudest call for grateful adoration. And as for his judgments, they have not known them; or, and judgments they had not known them, as if not knowing the laws of God, they might be looked upon as having no laws at all worth mentioning. The nations were covered with darkness, and only Israel sat in the light. This was sovereign grace in its fullest noontide of power. Praise ye the Lord. When we have mentioned electing, distinguishing love, our praise can rise no higher, and therefore we close with one more hallelujah.
And as for his judgments - The wondrous ordinances of his law, no nation had known them; and consequently, did not know the glorious things in futurity to which they referred.
1 more voice 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
He hath not dealt so with any nation - He has favored Israel more than any other people by giving them his revealed truth. This was so. There was no nation in the ancient world so favored as the Hebrew people in this respect. There is no nation now so favored as the nation that has the revealed will of God - the Bible. The possession of that book gives a nation a vast superiority in all respects over all others. In laws, customs, morals, intelligence, social life, purity, charity, prosperity, that book elevates a nation at once, and scatters blessings which can be derived from nothing else. The highest benevolence that could be shown to any nation would be to put it in possession of the word of God in the language of the people. And as for his judgments, they have not known them - Other nations are ignorant of his laws, his statutes, his revealed will. They are consequently subjected to all the evils which arise from ignorance of those laws. The fact that the ancient people of God possessed them was a sufficient reason for the Hallelujah with which the psalm closes. The fact that we possess them is a sufficient reason why we should re-echo the shout of praise, and cry Hallelujah.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹ֘א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָ֤שָׂה | ʾasah | he has done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כֵ֨ן׀ | khen | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | for any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גּ֗וֹי | goy | nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֥ים | umishpatim | and judgments | H4941 → | 422 times |
| בַּל־ | bal- | not | H1077 → | 73 times |
| יְדָע֗וּם | yedaum | they have known them | H3045 → | 945 times |
| הַֽלְלוּ־ | halu- | praise | H1984 → | 165 times |
| יָֽהּ׃ | yah | Yahweh | H3050 → | 50 times |
לֹ֘אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
עָ֤שָׂהhe has done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
כֵ֨ן׀thus
khenH3651 →771 times
לְכָל־for any
lekholH3605 →5413 times
גּ֗וֹיnation
goyH1471 →561 times
וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֥יםand judgments
umishpatimH4941 →422 times
בַּל־not
bal-H1077 →73 times
יְדָע֗וּםthey have known them
yedaumH3045 →945 times
הַֽלְלוּ־praise
halu-H1984 →165 times
יָֽהּ׃Yahweh
yahH3050 →50 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
Ephesians 2:12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
it leads to
- Galatians 4:8
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
- Colossians 1:21
Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.
- 1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- Jeremiah 31:31–34
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13
Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
- Galatians 4:8
Where this verse is studied
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 147; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.