Psalms 47:5
in Psalms 47God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD with the sound of the horn.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
God is gone up with a shout, Jehovah with the sound of a trumpet.
KJV
God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
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This verse in Psalms 47
Commentary
14 notes on this verseFor on account of this very lifting up of our flesh, blessed Job figuratively calls the Lord a bird. For since he saw that Judea would not understand the mystery of His Ascension, he pronounced sentence on their unbelief, saying, "The bird knew not the path." For the Lord was rightly called a bird, because He raised His fleshly body to the heavens. Whoever did not believe that He ascended to heaven did not know the path of this bird. Concerning this solemnity it is said through the Psalmist, "Your magnificence is exalted above the heavens."
This site's exposition
God has ascended amid shouts
on Psalms 47:5-6
God has ascended amid shouts, and the sound of the horn goes up with Him. The older writers read it two ways, the ark carried up to Zion in procession, and the ascension of Christ. Sing praises stands four times in verse 6.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"God is gone up with jubilation." Even He our God, the Lord Christ, is gone up with jubilation; "the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." "Is gone up:" whither, save where we know? Whither the Jews followed Him not, even with their eyes. For exalted on the Cross they mocked Him, ascending into Heaven they did not see Him. "God hath gone up with jubilation." What is jubilation, but admiration of joy which cannot be expressed in words? As the disciples in joy admired, seeing Him go into Heaven, whom they had mourned dead; truly for the joy, words sufficed not: remained to jubilate what none could express. There was also the voice of the trumpet, the voice of Angels. For it is said, "Lift up thy voice like a trumpet." Angels preached the ascension of the Lord: they saw the Disciples, their Lord ascending, tarrying, admiring, confounded, nothing speaking, but in heart jubilant: and now was the sound of the trumpet in the clear voice of the Angels, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this is Jesus." As if they knew not that it was the same Jesus. Had they not just before seen Him before them? Had they not heard Him speaking with them? Nay, they not only saw the figure of Him present, but handled also His limbs. Of themselves then knew they not, that it was the same Jesus? But they being by very admiration, from joy of jubilation, as it were transported in mind, the Angels said, "that same is Jesus." As though they said, If ye believe Him, this is that same Jesus, whom crucified, your feet stumbled, whom dead and buried, ye thought your hope lost. Lo, this is the same Jesus. […]
The Medieval Church2 voices
"God ascended with jubilation." Here he explains the cause and the order. He says that He is most high and a great king; and on account of this He is to be praised. But is He truly so high? Yes. And first he shows His …
He ascended with a shout of jubilation, since he sought heaven as the disciples rejoiced in the glory of his being lifted up. He ascended with the sound of the trumpet, since he went up to the throne of his heavenly kingdom as the angels …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
God - This is meant literally of the ark: but mystically of Christ's ascension into heaven, as may be gathered by comparing this with Eph. iv, 8, where the like words uttered concerning the ark upon the same occasion, chap. lxviii, 18, are directly applied to Christ's ascension.
He went up as a Mediator, typified by the ark and the mercy-seat over it, and was brought as the ark was into the most holy place, into heaven itself; see Heb. ix. We read not of a shout, or of the sound of a trumpet, at the ascension of Christ, but they were the inhabitants of the upper world, those sons of God, that then shouted for joy, Job xxxviii.
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
God is gone up with a shout,....
In singing this psalm we are to give honour to the exalted Redeemer, to rejoice in his exaltation, and to celebrate his praises, confessing that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
God is gone up with a shout. Faith hears the people already shouting. The command of the first verse is here regarded as a fact. The fight is over, the conqueror ascends to his triumphant chariot, and rides up to the gates of the city which is made resplendent with the joy of his return. The words are fully applicable to the ascension of the Redeemer. We doubt not that angels and glorified spirits welcomed him with acclamations. He came not without song, shall we imagine that he returned in silence? The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
This sovereignty is what the Psalm teaches; hence he adds, sing . . . praises with understanding--literally, "sing and play an instructive (Psalm)." The whole typifies Christ's ascension (compare Ps 68:18). The instruction continued. throne of . . . holiness--or, "holy throne" (see on Ps 2:6;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
God is gone up with a shout. Faith hears the people already shouting. The command of the first verse is here regarded as a fact. The fight is over, the conqueror ascends to his triumphant chariot, and rides up to the gates of the city which is made resplendent with the joy of his return. The words are fully applicable to the ascension of the Redeemer. We doubt not that angels and glorified spirits welcomed him with acclamations. He came not without song, shall we imagine that he returned in silence? The Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Jesus is Jehovah. The joyful strain of the trumpet betokens the splendour of his triumph. It was meet to welcome one returning from the wars with martial music. Fresh from Bozrah, with his garments all red from the winepress, he ascended, leading captivity captive, and well might the clarion ring out the tidings of Immanuel's victorious return.
God is gone up with a shout - Primarily, this may refer to the rejoicing and sounding of trumpets, when the ark was lifted up to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites. But it is generally understood as a prophetic declaration of the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the shout may refer to the exultation of the evangelists and apostles in preaching Christ crucified, buried, risen from the dead, and ascended to heaven, ever to appear in the presence of God for us. This was the triumph of the apostles; and the conversion of multitudes of souls by this preaching was the triumph of the cross of Christ.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
God is gone up with a shout - That is, he has ascended to heaven, his home and throne, after having secured the victory. He is represented as having come down to aid his people in the war by the overthrow of their enemies, and (having accomplished this) as returning to heaven, accompanied by his hosts, and amidst the shouts of triumph. All this is, of course, poetical, and is not to be regarded as literal in any sense. Compare the notes at Psa 7:7. The Lord with the sound of a trumpet - Yahweh, accompanied with the notes of victory. All this is designed to denote triumph, and to show that the victory was to be traced solely to God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He shall choose..for us and restore us to its midst. Then He will be exalted with the trumpet blast and the sound of the shofar that we will sound before Him over the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, and we will say, “Sing to God, etc.”
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. 5 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָלָ֣ה | ʾalah | he has gone up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֱ֭לֹהִים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בִּתְרוּעָ֑ה | bitruah | with a shout of joy | H8643 → | 36 times |
| יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּק֣וֹל | bekol | with [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| שׁוֹפָֽר׃ | shofar | a ram's horn | H7782 → | 72 times |
עָלָ֣הhe has gone up
ʾalahH5927 →890 times
אֱ֭לֹהִיםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
בִּתְרוּעָ֑הwith a shout of joy
bitruahH8643 →36 times
יְ֝הֹוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּק֣וֹלwith [the] sound of
bekolH6963 →506 times
שׁוֹפָֽר׃a ram's horn
shofarH7782 →72 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
1 Thessalonians 4:16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:51–52
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
- Revelation 1:7
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.
- Matthew 24:30–31
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds…
- 1 Corinthians 15:23
But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
- Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- 1 Corinthians 15:51–52
Through
1 Corinthians 15:52in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…
- Matthew 24:31
And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
Through
Revelation 11:15Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign…
it leads to
- Daniel 7:14
And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is…
- Daniel 7:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 13 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, ON THE PSALMS - Psalm 47; Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2:15; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 29; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.