1Hallelujah.
Praise the name of the LORD,
O praise, you servants of the LORD,
2who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God.
3Praise Jah, for the LORD is good,
hymn His name, for it is sweet.
4For Jah has chosen for Himself Jacob,
Israel as His treasure.
5For I know that the LORD is great,
and our Master more than all the gods.
6All that the LORD desired He did
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all the depths.
7He brings up the clouds from the ends of the earth;
lightning for the rain He made;
He brings forth the wind from His stores.
8Who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
from humankind to beast.
9Sent forth signs and portents in the midst of Egypt
against Pharaoh and against all his servants.
10Who struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings—
11Sihon, the Amorite king
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12And gave their land as an estate,
an estate to Israel, His people.
13LORD, Your name is forever,
LORD, Your fame for all generations.
14For the LORD champions His people,
and for His servants He shows change of heart.
15The nations’ idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16A mouth they have and they do not speak,
eyes they have and they do not see.
17Ears they have and they do not hear,
nor is there breath in their mouth.
18Like them may their makers be,
all who trust in them.
19House of Israel, bless the LORD,
House of Aaron, bless the LORD.
20House of Levi, bless the LORD.
Those who fear the LORD, bless the LORD.
21Blessed is the LORD from Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
PSALM 135 NOTES
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1. Hallelujah. / Praise the name of the LORD. Formally, this is a psalm of praise or thanksgiving, but it also incorporates historical elements (verses 8–12), and verse 14 may suggest that the nation has fallen on hard times and awaits, or prays for, God’s intervention on its behalf.
2. who stand in the house of the LORD, / in the courts of the house of our God. This clause concretely evokes the Temple setting in which this liturgical exhortation to praise God is enacted.
3. hymn His name, for it is sweet. The conjunction of the root z-m-r (“hymn,” “sing,” “make music”) and the root n-ʿ-m (“sweet” or “pleasant”) is idiomatic in biblical Hebrew. Thus, David is called “the sweet singer of Israel” (neʿim zemirot yisraʾel), 2 Samuel 23:1.
6. in the heavens and on the earth, / in the seas and all the depths. The poet, having just proclaimed that the God of Israel is greater than all other gods, now invokes a postmythological cosmic arena in which YHWH reigns everywhere, without antagonists such as the primordial sea god.
8. the firstborn of Egypt. In this rapid poetic summary of God’s triumphant acts in history, the psalmist leaps from the victory over Pharaoh in the Exodus story to the victory over the trans-Jordanian kings (verses 10 and 11) reported in Numbers 21.
11. Og, king of Bashan. In Deuteronomy 3:11, Og is described as a giant.
13. LORD, Your name is forever. The historical summary concludes with this line of praise for God’s enduring greatness, which in turn serves as a transition to the implied prayer, or declaration of trust, of the next verse.
14. For the LORD champions His people, / and for His servants He shows change of heart. This entire line is virtually identical with Deuteronomy 32:36 and should probably be thought of as a deliberate quotation. There are some linguistic indications that this psalm is relatively late (for example, the use of the Aramaic-influenced accusative lamed before the three nouns in verse 11), though it is not altogether certain that the national disaster after which the psalmist awaits vindication is the Babylonian exile.
15. The nations’ idols are silver and gold. This and the next three verses repeat, with minor changes, Psalm 115:4–8. The closeness to the anti-idolatry polemic of the anonymous prophet of the exile referred to as Deutero-Isaiah is striking. The thematic connection with what precedes is that God, controller of all realms of creation and of history, will surely now vindicate His people that has been humiliated by worshippers of sticks and stones.
17. they do not hear. Unlike the parallel verse in Psalm 115, the verb used here is not shamaʿ but heʾezin, built from the same root as ʾozen, “ear.”
18. Like them may their makers be. In the implicitly historical context of this psalm, the curse that the idolators be reduced to the nullity of their idols has special force.
20. House of Levi. That is, the Levites in distinction to the priests proper (“house of Aaron”).