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Psalm 136

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Give thanks to the Elohim of gods

1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good, for His lovingkindness endures forever. 2 Give thanks to the Elohim of gods, for His lovingkindness endures forever. 3 Give thanks to the Adon of lords, for His lovingkindness endures forever;

The Maker of heaven and earth

4 to Him who alone does great wonders, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 5 to Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 6 to Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 7 to Him who made the great lights, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 8 the sun to rule by day, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 9 the moon and stars to rule by night, for His lovingkindness endures forever.

He brought Israel out

10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 11 and brought Israel out from among them, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 12 with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 13 to Him who divided the Red Sea into parts, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 15 but shook off Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea, for His lovingkindness endures forever;

16 to Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 17 to Him who struck great kings, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 18 and killed mighty kings, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 19 Sihon king of the Amorites, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 20 and Og king of Bashan, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 21 and gave their land as an inheritance, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 22 an inheritance to Israel His servant, for His lovingkindness endures forever.

He remembered us

23 He remembered us in our low estate, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 24 and rescued us from our adversaries, for His lovingkindness endures forever; 25 He gives food to all flesh, for His lovingkindness endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the El of heaven, for His lovingkindness endures forever.

Notes

  • 136:1 Every one of the twenty-six verses ends with the same refrain, "for His lovingkindness endures forever," the line sung when the ark came to Jerusalem (see the note at 1 Chronicles 16:34). The psalm seems made for worship in which one voice sang the first half and the people answered with the refrain, as at the founding of the second temple: "And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to Yahweh" (Ezra 3:11). Later Jewish tradition (Talmud, Pesachim 118a) calls Psalm 136 "the Great Hallel"; the rabbis there differ on whether it begins with this psalm or a little earlier (in Psalm 135 or 134), and Rabbi Yochanan explains the name by Elohim's feeding of every creature, the thought of verse 25: He "gives food to all flesh."
  • 136:2 Verses 2-3 take their titles from Moses: "the Elohim of gods and the Adon of lords" (Deuteronomy 10:17), the Hebrew way of saying the highest Elohim and the highest Adon (see the note there).
  • 136:13 "Into parts" is ligzarim, from gazar, "to cut." The noun gezarim appears elsewhere in the Bible only in Genesis 15:17, of the halves of the covenant animals: "passed between these pieces." Some readers have heard in this an echo of the covenant with Abraham, whose promise of the exodus (Genesis 15:13-14) was kept at the sea. On "Red Sea" (yam suf, "Sea of Reeds"), see the note at Exodus 13:18.
  • 136:15 "Shook off" is na'ar, the verb of Exodus 14:27, "Yahweh shook off the Egyptians into the midst of the sea," as one shakes dust or crumbs from a garment.
  • 136:26 "The El of heaven" (El ha-shamayim) is found only here in the Bible; the psalm ends where verses 2-3 began, with a title for the One above all. The like title "the Elohim of heaven" belongs mostly to the later books (Ezra 1:2; Nehemiah 1:4), and in Aramaic "the Elah of heaven" (Ezra 6:9).

Psalm 135 · Psalm 137

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