Psalms 96:12
in Psalms 96Let the fields exult, and all that is in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let the field exult, and all that is therein; Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy
KJV
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
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This verse in Psalms 96
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWhen the Lord invites certain ones from villages and streets to the supper, He clearly designates that people who had known how to keep the law under civilized society; but when He commands His guests to be gathered from highways and hedges, He doubtless seeks to gather a rustic people, that is, the Gentiles, of whose signification it is said through the Psalmist: "Then shall all the trees of the forest rejoice before the face of the Lord, because He comes."
This site's exposition
Let the fields exult
on Psalms 96:12-13
Let the fields exult, and the forest sings with them. He is coming stands twice here, where the same song at 1 Chronicles 16:33 says it once. Judgment follows, righteousness for the world and faithfulness for the peoples.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The plains shall be joyful, and all things that are in them" [Psalm 96:12]. All the meek, all the gentle, all the righteous, are the "plains" of God. "Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoice." The trees of the woods are the heathen. Why do they rejoice? Because they were cut off from the wild olive, and engraffed into the good olive. [Romans 11:17] "Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoice:" because huge cedars and cypresses have been cut down, and undecaying timbers have been bought for the building of the house. They were trees of the woods; but before they were sent to the building: they were trees of the woods, but before they produced the olive.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The dialect here is poetical; the meaning is, 1. That the days of the Messiah will be joyful days, and, as far as his grace and government are submitted to, will bring joy along with them. We have reason to give that place, that soul, joy into which Christ is admitted.
2 Sing unto the L ORD , bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 4 For the L ORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:89%@v2-4
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein. Let the cultivated plains praise the Lord. Peace enables their owners to plough and sow and reap, without fear of the rapine of invaders, and therefore in glad notes they applaud him whose empire is peace. Both men, and creatures that graze the plain, and the crops themselves are represented as swelling the praises of Jehovah, and the figure is both bold and warranted, for the day shall come when every inhabited rood of ground shall yield its song, and every farmstead shall contain a church.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
For which reason the universe is invoked to unite in joy, and even inanimate nature (Ro 8:14-22) is poetically represented as capable of joining in the anthem of praise.
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein. Let the cultivated plains praise the Lord. Peace enables their owners to plough and sow and reap, without fear of the rapine of invaders, and therefore in glad notes they applaud him whose empire is peace. Both men, and creatures that graze the plain, and the crops themselves are represented as swelling the praises of Jehovah, and the figure is both bold and warranted, for the day shall come when every inhabited rood of ground shall yield its song, and every farmstead shall contain a church. Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice. He does not say, let them rejoice, but they shall do so. The faith of the psalmist turns itself from the expression of desire to the fully assured prediction of the event. Groves have in old times stood shuddering at the horrid orgies which have been performed within their shade, the time shall come when they shall sing for joy because of the holy worship, the sounds of which they shall hear. The bush is the stronghold of savage men and robbers, but it shall be sanctified to retirement and devotion. Perhaps the psalmist was thinking of the birds; so Keble must have supposed, for he versifies the passage thus—
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Let the field be joyful ... - This is taken - with the change of a single letter, not affecting the sense - from 1Ch 16:32-33. It is a call on the fields - the cultivated portions of the earth - to rejoice in the reign of God. As if conscious of the beauty with which he clothes them, and of the happiness which they confer on man in their beauty and in the abundance of their productions, they are called on to praise God. Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice - The forests - the oaks, the cedars, the pines, that wave with so much majesty. If they were conscious of their own magnificence and beauty - if they could see how much wisdom and goodness God has lavished on them, in their forms, their branches, their leaves, their flowers, their fruit - if they could know how much they are made to accomplish in rendering the world beautiful, and in contributing to the happiness of man - if they understood what a bare, bleak, cold, desert world this would be but for them, they, too, would have abundant occasion for praise and joy.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַעֲלֹ֣ז | yaaloz | let it exult | H5937 → | 16 times |
| שָׂ֭דַי | sadai | [the] field[s] | H7704 → | 334 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בּ֑וֹ | bo | [is] in it | ||
| אָ֥ז | ʾaz | then | H227 → | 141 times |
| יְ֝רַנְּנ֗וּ | yeranenu | they will shout for joy | H7442 → | 54 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲצֵי־ | ʾatzei- | [the] trees of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| יָֽעַר׃ | yaar | [the] forest | H3293 → | 59 times |
יַעֲלֹ֣זlet it exult
yaalozH5937 →16 times
שָׂ֭דַי[the] field[s]
sadaiH7704 →334 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בּ֑וֹ[is] in it
bo
אָ֥זthen
ʾazH227 →141 times
יְ֝רַנְּנ֗וּthey will shout for joy
yeranenuH7442 →54 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֲצֵי־[the] trees of
ʾatzei-H6086 →328 times
יָֽעַר׃[the] forest
yaarH3293 →59 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
Isaiah 35:1The wilderness and the land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 36:35
Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Isaiah 55:12–13
You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
- Isaiah 27:6
In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.
- Isaiah 52:9–10
Break forth in joy, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 36:35
Through
Isaiah 44:23Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has…
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:6–7
to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
- Revelation 5:8–14
When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which…
- Psalms 69:34
Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
- Ephesians 1:6–7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 96; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 36; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.