Psalms 76:4
in Psalms 76You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains filled with game.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Glorious art thou and excellent, From the mountains of prey.
KJV
Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.
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This verse in Psalms 76
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThou dost give light wondrously from the everlasting mountains. We interpret the mountains in two ways: in the Old Testament, the prophets; in the New Testament, the apostles. Of these mountains he says: "I have lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains, whence shall come my help." Upon these mountains also is the city of God set, "A city set upon a mountain cannot be hid." We were all sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death; and the Lord gave light to us from the everlasting mountains, that is, from the prophets and apostles.
This site's exposition
Thou art more glorious
on Psalms 76:4-6
The mountains of prey are strongholds robbers held for plunder, and God's own glory is set above even that entrenched strength. The stouthearted, men of might who trusted their own hands, are spoiled and sleep their last sleep, unable to find their hands when the moment came. At God's rebuke both chariot and horse, the ancient world's whole military technology, are cast into that same dead sleep, an army stopped without the psalm naming a battle at all.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Than - The greatest kings and empires of the earth, which in prophetic writings are often compared to mountains. And they are called mountains of prey, because they generally were established by tyranny, and maintained by preying upon their own subjects, or other kingdoms.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. Far more is Jehovah to be extolled than all the invading powers which sought to oppress his people, though they were for power and greatness comparable to mountains. Assyria had pillaged the nations till it had become rich with mountains of spoil, this was talked of among men as glory, but the psalmist despised such renown, and declares that the Lord was far more illustrious. What are the honours of war but brags of murder? What the fame of conquerors but the reek of manslaughter?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
His Tabernacle was in Shalem – Then His Tabernacle will be in Shalem, meaning that the Holy Temple will be rebuilt there. The verse mentions Zion in particular because it is the place of the king.
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
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נָ֭אוֹר | naor | [are] lighted up | H215 → | 43 times |
| אַתָּ֥ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| אַדִּ֗יר | ʾadir | [are] majestic | H117 → | 27 times |
| מֵֽהַרְרֵי־ | meharei- | more than mountains of | H2042 → | 12 times |
| טָֽרֶף׃ | taref | prey | H2964 → | 22 times |
נָ֭אוֹר[are] lighted up
naorH215 →43 times
אַתָּ֥הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
אַדִּ֗יר[are] majestic
ʾadirH117 →27 times
מֵֽהַרְרֵי־more than mountains of
meharei-H2042 →12 times
טָֽרֶף׃prey
tarefH2964 →22 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
Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and…
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:7
Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
- Jeremiah 2:15
The young lions have roared at him; they have growled with a loud voice. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.
- Jeremiah 5:6
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be…
- Isaiah 6:11
Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Ezekiel 26:7–10
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company…
- Isaiah 1:7
About Psalms
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jerome, Homily 9, on Psalm 75; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.