Psalms 44:20
in Psalms 44If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If we have forgotten the name of our God, Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;
KJV
If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
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This verse in Psalms 44
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAn appeal is now made to the omniscience of God; he is himself called in to bear witness that Israel had not set up another God. If we have forgotten the name of our God. This would be the first step in apostasy; men first forget the true, and then adore the false. Or stretched out our hands to a strange god. Stretching out the hands was the symbol of adoration or of entreaty in prayer; this they had not offered to any of the idols of the heathens.
This site's exposition
If we had forgotten the name
on Psalms 44:20-22
The oath is put to the one witness who knows the secrets of the heart. Hands spread to a foreign god would have been found out. Paul quotes verse 22 at Romans 8:36 for the sufferings of believers, sheep to be slaughtered.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"If we have forgotten the Name of our God." Here is the "understanding" of the "sons of Korah." "And stretched out our hands to a strange God" [Psalm 44:20].
This is the mark of loyal servants, to persevere in serving their master despite their ill treatment.… This verse, too, teaches the listeners not to pretend but to serve God with their whole heart.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"If we have forgotten." Here he proves what he said. And first he proposes the claims. Second he sets forth the divine judgment. Third he gives a clear sign. He says therefore: I said, we have not forgotten you, etc. And therefore he proposes: "If …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Shall he not judge it, and call us to an account for it?" Forgetting God was a heart-sin, and stretching our the hand to a strange god was often a secret sin, Ezek. viii. But heart-sins and secret sins are known to God, and must be reckoned for; for he knows the secrets of the heart, and therefore is a infallible judge of the words and actions.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
If we have forgotten the name of our God,.... As antichrist, and the antichristian party did in those times, Dan 11:36; or stretched out our hands to a strange god; as not to any of the Heathen deities under the Pagan persecutions, so not to any images of gold, silver, brass, and wood, under the Papal tyranny; not to the Virgin Mary, nor to angels and saints departed; nor to the breaden God in the mass, never heard of before; see Dan 11:38.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
If we have forgotten the name of our God - That name, יהוה Jehovah, by which the true God was particularly distinguished, and which implied the exclusion of all other objects of adoration. Or stretched out our hands - Made supplication; offered prayer or adoration to any strange god - a god that we had not known, nor had been acknowledged by our fathers. It has already been remarked, that from the time of the Babylonish captivity the Jews never relapsed into idolatry. It was customary among the ancients, while praying, to stretch out their hands towards the heavens, or the image they were worshipping, as if they expected to receive the favor they were asking.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If we have forgotten the name of our God - That is, if we have apostatized from him. Or stretched out our hands to a strange god - Or have been guilty of idolatry. The act of stretching out the hands, or spreading forth the hands, was significant of worship or prayer: 1Ki 8:22; 2Ch 6:12-13; see the notes at Isa 1:15. The idea here is, that this was not the cause or reason of their calamities; that if this had occurred, it would have been a sufficient reason for what had taken place; but that no such cause actually existed, and therefore the reason must be found in something else. It was the fact of such calamities having come upon the nation when no such cause existed, that perplexed the author of the psalm, and led to the conclusion in his own mind Psa 44:22 that these calamities were produced by the malignant designs of the enemies of the true religion, and that, instead of their suffering for their national sins, they were really martyrs in the cause of God, and were suffering for his sake.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾimosha- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שָׁ֭כַחְנוּ | shakhachnu | we had forgotten | H7911 → | 102 times |
| שֵׁ֣ם | shem | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וַנִּפְרֹ֥שׂ | vanifros | and we had spread out | H6566 → | 67 times |
| כַּ֝פֵּ֗ינוּ | kapeinu | hands our | H3709 → | 192 times |
| לְאֵ֣ל | leel | to a god | H410 → | 241 times |
| זָֽר׃ | zar | strange | H2114 → | 77 times |
אִם־if
ʾimosha-H518 →1069 times
שָׁ֭כַחְנוּwe had forgotten
shakhachnuH7911 →102 times
שֵׁ֣ם[the] name of
shemH8034 →864 times
אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
וַנִּפְרֹ֥שׂand we had spread out
vanifrosH6566 →67 times
כַּ֝פֵּ֗ינוּhands our
kapeinuH3709 →192 times
לְאֵ֣לto a god
leelH410 →241 times
זָֽר׃strange
zarH2114 →77 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
Job 11:13As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him,
it leads to
- Psalms 143:6
I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 88:9
My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.
- 1 Samuel 7:3
Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts…
- Psalms 78:8
Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- Psalms 143:6
Through
Psalms 81:9There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god.
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:12
I alone decreed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.
- Deuteronomy 32:12
The LORD alone led him, and no foreign god was with him.
- Isaiah 43:12
Through
Deuteronomy 6:14Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 25:6
Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’
- Jeremiah 25:6
Through
Psalms 68:31Envoys will arrive from Egypt; Cush will stretch out her hands to God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
- Isaiah 45:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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, Exposition on Psalm 44; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 44:8; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.