1Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a newsong, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
2 Let Israelrejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedgedsword in their hand;
7 To executevengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute upon them the judgmentwritten: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Psalms 149.
QUESTIONS WORTH EXPLORING
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What stands out about a new-song celebration of Israel with dance in Psalm 149?
Psalm 149 builds its movement around a new-song celebration of Israel with dance, tambourine, and difficult warrior/judgment imagery. Tracking repeated words, parallel lines, changes of speaker, and image clusters shows how the poem develops before assigning a later interpretation.
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What world does Psalm 149 ask the reader to picture?
The poem evokes worship assembly with dance and conflict imagery. Those settings may be literal, remembered, ritual, or metaphorical; distinguishing those possibilities is part of reading Hebrew poetry carefully.
⌘Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter3
Presents the Hebrew text beside an English translation. Useful for examining the psalm’s abrupt movement from a new song, dancing, tambourine, and lyre to beds, two-edged swords, bound kings, written judgment, and the difficult relationship between praise and victory.
Notes clarify the congregation of faithful people, rejoicing in the maker and king, the disputed word translated dancing, musical accompaniment with tambourine and lyre, the adornment of the humble with victory, singing on beds, two-edged swords, chains, and written judgment.
Illustrated sculpture of a musician holding a frame drum or tambourine. Although medieval and Iranian rather than biblical-period Israelite, the detailed image helps readers recognize the enduring Near Eastern tradition of accompanying courtly or communal celebration with handheld percussion, as in Psalm 149.
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