1 Praise H1984 ye the LORD. H3050 Praise H1984 God H410 in his sanctuary: H6944 praise H1984 him in the firmament H7549 of his power. H5797
I will go H935 into thy house H1004 with burnt offerings: H5930 I will pay H7999 thee my vows, H5088 Which my lips H8193 have uttered, H6475 and my mouth H6310 hath spoken, H1696 when I was in trouble. H6862 I will offer H5927 unto thee burnt sacrifices H5930 of fatlings, H4220 with the incense H7004 of rams; H352 I will offer H6213 bullocks H1241 with goats. H6260 Selah. H5542 Come H3212 and hear, H8085 all ye that fear H3373 God, H430 and I will declare H5608 what he hath done H6213 for my soul. H5315
And the likeness H1823 of the firmament H7549 upon the heads H7218 of the living creature H2416 was as the colour H5869 of the terrible H3372 crystal, H7140 stretched forth H5186 over their heads H7218 above. H4605 And under the firmament H7549 were their wings H3671 straight, H3477 the one H802 toward the other: H269 every one H376 had two, H8147 which covered H3680 on this side, H2007 and every one H376 had two, H8147 which covered H3680 on that side, H2007 their bodies. H1472 And when they went, H3212 I heard H8085 the noise H6963 of their wings, H3671 like the noise H6963 of great H7227 waters, H4325 as the voice H6963 of the Almighty, H7706 the voice H6963 of speech, H1999 as the noise H6963 of an host: H4264 when they stood, H5975 they let down H7503 their wings. H3671 And there was a voice H6963 from the firmament H7549 that was over their heads, H7218 when they stood, H5975 and had let down H7503 their wings. H3671 And above H4605 the firmament H7549 that was over their heads H7218 was the likeness H1823 of a throne, H3678 as the appearance H4758 of a sapphire H5601 stone: H68 and upon the likeness H1823 of the throne H3678 was the likeness H1823 as the appearance H4758 of a man H120 above H4605 upon it.
And God H430 said, H559 Let there be a firmament H7549 in the midst H8432 of the waters, H4325 and let it divide H914 the waters H4325 from the waters. H4325 And God H430 made H6213 the firmament, H7549 and divided H914 the waters H4325 which H834 were under H8478 the firmament H7549 from the waters H4325 which H834 were above H5921 the firmament: H7549 and it was so. H3651 And God H430 called H7121 the firmament H7549 Heaven. H8064 And the evening H6153 and the morning H1242 were the second H8145 day. H3117
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 150
Commentary on Psalms 150 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Final Hallelujah
The call to praise Jahve “with dance and with timbrel” in Psalms 149:3 is put forth here anew in Psalms 150:4, but with the introduction of all the instruments; and is addressed not merely to Israel, but to every individual soul.
The Synagogue reckons up thirteen divine attributes according to ex. Psalms 34:6. ( שׁלשׁ עשׂרה מדּות ), to which, according to an observation of Kimchi, correspond the thirteen הלּל of this Psalm. It is, however, more probable that in the mind of the poet the tenfold halaluw encompassed by Hallelujah's is significative; for ten is the number of rounding off, completeness, exclusiveness, and of the extreme of exhaustibleness. The local definitions in Psalms 150:1 are related attributively to God, and designate that which is heavenly, belonging to the other world, as an object of praise. קדשוּ (the possible local meaning of which is proved by the קדשׁ and קדשׁ קדשׁים of the Tabernacle and of the Temple) is in this passage the heavenly היכל ; and רקיע עזּו is the firmament spread out by God's omnipotence and testifying of God's omnipotence (Psalms 68:35), not according to its front side, which is turned towards the earth, but according to the reverse or inner side, which is turned towards the celestial world, and which marks it off from the earthly world. The third and fourth hălalu give as the object of the praise that which is at the same time the ground of the praise: the tokens of His גּבוּרה , i.e., of His all-subduing strength, and the plenitude of His greatness ( גּדלו = גּדלו ), i.e., His absolute, infinite greatness. The fifth and sixth hălalu bring into the concert in praise of God the ram's horn, שׁופר , the name of which came to be improperly used as the name also of the metallic חצצרה (vid., on Psalms 81:4), and the two kinds of stringed instruments (vid., Psalms 33:2), viz., the nabla (i.e., the harp and lyre) and the kinnor (the cithern), the ψαλτήριον and the κιθάρα ( κινύρα ). The seventh hălalu invites to the festive dance, of which the chief instrumental accompaniment is the תּף (Arabic duff , Spanish adufe , derived from the Moorish) or tambourine. The eighth hălalu brings on the stringed instruments in their widest compass, מנּים (cf. Psalms 45:9) from מן , Syriac menı̂n , and the shepherd's pipe, עגב (with the Gimel raphe = עוּגב ); and the ninth and tenth, the two kinds of castanets ( צלצלי , construct form of צלצלים , singular צלצל ), viz., the smaller clear-sounding, and the larger deeper-toned, more noisy kinds (cf. κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον , 1 Corinthians 13:1), as צלצלי שׁמע (pausal form of שׁמע = שׁמע , like סתר in Deuteronomy 27:15, and frequently, from סתר = סתר ) and צלצלי תרוּעה are, with Schlultens, Pfeifer, Burk, Köster, and others, to be distinguished.
The call to praise has thus far been addressed to persons not mentioned by name, but, as the names of instruments thus heaped up show, to Israel especially. It is now generalized to “the totality of breath,” i.e., all the beings who are endowed by God with the breath of lie (Heb.: נשׁמת חיּים ), i.e., to all mankind.
With this full-toned Finale the Psalter closes. Having risen as it were by five steps, in this closing Psalm it hovers over the blissful summit of the end, where, as Gregory of Nyssa says, all creatures, after the disunion and disorder caused by sin have been removed, are harmoniously united for one choral dance ( εἰς μίαν χοροστασίαν ), and the chorus of mankind concerting with the angel chorus are become one cymbal of divine praise, and the final song of victory shall salute God, the triumphant Conqueror ( τῷ τροπαιούχῳ ), with shouts of joy. There is now no need for any special closing beracha . This whole closing Psalm is such. Nor is there any need even of an Amen (Psalms 106:48, cf. 1 Chronicles 16:36). The Hallelujah includes it within itself and exceeds it.