Psalms 47

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Reading Psalms · Listen to the poem

Start anywhere in Psalms. Bring these reading tools with you.

Identify the kind of speech

Ask whether this psalm praises, laments, gives thanks, teaches, or celebrates kingship. These forms can overlap. Notice who speaks and whom the poem addresses before assigning every line to the same voice.

Read across the lines

Compare neighboring lines: does the second echo, contrast with, or develop the first? Repeated words and changing images can reveal movement within a short poem. Superscriptions are part of the received text, but do not by themselves securely date composition.

Try it in Psalm 23

Track the movement from pasture and paths to a table, cup, and dwelling. What changes when the speaker moves from describing the shepherd to directly addressing him? Keep poetic imagery distinct from an itinerary.

Keep the collection in view

Read the preceding and following psalms as a separate comparison. Their placement can invite connections without proving that they were composed together. Numbering can differ between Hebrew and Greek traditions.

Explore the scholarship: Yale · historical and literary discussion ↗

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1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

2 For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.

3 He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

4 He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

5 God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.

8 God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

9 The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

World Behind This Chapter

Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Psalms 47.

QUESTIONS WORTH EXPLORING

What stands out about an enthronement hymn calling nations to clap as God reigns over the peoples in Psalm 47?

Psalm 47 builds its movement around an enthronement hymn calling nations to clap as God reigns over the peoples. Tracking repeated words, parallel lines, changes of speaker, and image clusters shows how the poem develops before assigning a later interpretation.

What world does Psalm 47 ask the reader to picture?

The poem evokes nations gathered under divine kingship. 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 chapter 2
History & Daily Life1
  • Trumpets in the Ancient WorldThe Metropolitan Museum of Art

    Ancient Egyptian trumpet illustrating the type of loud ceremonial instrument used in royal, military, and religious settings. It provides visual context for Psalm 47's combination of acclamation, procession, divine ascent, and trumpet blast, while not representing an Israelite instrument.

Language & Literature1

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