He will bless those who fear Yahweh, both small and great.
Parallel Translations
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He will bless those who fear Yahweh, both small and great.
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He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
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He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Psalms 115:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 112:1 Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.
- Psalms 128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways.
- Luke 1:50 His mercy is for generations of generations on those who fear him.
- Psalms 29:11 Yahweh will give strength to his people. Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
- Psalms 128:4-5 Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears Yahweh. May Yahweh bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
- Revelation 19:5 A voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!”
- Malachi 4:2 But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall.
- Revelation 11:18 The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
- Malachi 3:16-17 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name. They shall be mine,” says Yahweh of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.
- Acts 13:26 Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to you.
- Acts 26:22 Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen,
- Revelation 20:12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
- Colossians 3:11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He says, both the small with the great, by…
He says, both the small with the great, by which circumstance he magnifies God’s paternal regard the more, showing that he does not overlook even the meanest and most despised, provided they cordially invoke his aid. Now, as there is no acceptance of persons before God, our low and abject condition ought to be no obstruction to our drawing near to him, since he so kindly invites to approach him those who appear to be held in no reputation. Moreover, the repetition of the word bless is intended to mark the uninterrupted stream of his loving-kindness. Should any prefer the past tense, he has blessed, the meaning will be, that the favor of God towards his people has continued for a long period, which ought to be a sure evidence of the perpetuity of his fatherly regard. This interpretation is strengthened by the subsequent verse, in which he says, that God would multiply the benefits which he had up to that time conferred upon them. For God’s liberality is an inexhaustible fountain, which will never cease to flow so long as its progress is not impeded by the ingratitude of men. And hence it will be continued to their posterity, because God manifests the grace and the fruit of his adoption even to a thousand generations.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 115:13 He will bless them that fear the…
Psa 115:13 He will bless them that fear the LORD, [both] small and great.
Ver. 13. He will bless] Such shall abound with blessings, Pro 28:20.
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Both small and great] Whether in age or degree, Act 10:34-35.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Either in age or condition, of whatsoever quality, high…
Either in age or condition, of whatsoever quality, high and low, rich and poor; for he is no respecter of persons.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He will bless them that fear the Lord,.... They…
He will bless them that fear the Lord,.... They shall want no good thing now, and have much goodness laid up for them to be enjoyed hereafter; the sun of righteousness rises upon them, and a book of remembrance is written on their account; the Lord delights in them, his eye is upon them; and they are blessed with more grace now, and will be blessed with glory hereafter.
Both small and great; young and old, rich and poor, high and low, lesser or greater believers; be they children, young men, or fathers; see Rev 11:18.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Both small - Of whatsoever quality, high and low,…
Both small - Of whatsoever quality, high and low, rich and poor.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He will bless them that fear the Lord -…
He will bless them that fear the Lord - Compare Psa 115:11.
Both small and great - Margin, as in Hebrew, with. The little with the great; children and grown persons; the poor and the rich; the ignorant and the learned; those of humble rank, and those of most exalted birth and condition.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. both small and great] One and all without…
13. both small and great] One and all without distinction of rank or condition. Cp. Jer_6:13; Jer_16:6; Jer_31:34.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Them that fear the Lord—i.e., all Israel.
(13) Them that fear the Lord—i.e., all Israel.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He will bless them that fear the Lord (comp.…
He will bless them that fear the Lord (comp. ver. 12). Both small and great; literally, the small with the great; i.e. all, without any exception.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 13. He will bless them that fear the…
Ver. 13. He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great. So long as a man fears the Lord it matters nothing whether he be prince or peasant, patriarch or pauper, God will assuredly bless him. He supplies the want of every living thing, from the leviathan of the sea to the insect upon a leaf, and he will suffer none of the godly to be forgotten, however small their abilities, or mean their position. This is a sweet cordial for those who are little in faith, and own themselves to be mere babes in the family of grace. There is the same blessing for the least saint as for the greatest; yea, if anything, the "small" shall be first; for as the necessity is the more pressing, the supply shall be the more speedy.
Ver. 13. He will bless... both small and great. Mercy, according to the covenant of grace, giveth the same grounds of faith and hope to everyone within the church; so that whatever of favour is shown to one of God's people, it is of a general use and profit to others. This Scripture sheweth that as the duty of trusting in the Lord is common to all sorts of persons, so the blessing of trust is common, and doth belong to all sorts of believers, small and great. God's Israel consists of several degrees of men. There are magistrates who have their peculiar service; there ate ministers who intercede between God and man in things belonging to God; and there are the common sort of them that fear God, and are admitted to the honour of being his people. Now these have all the same privileges. If God be the help and shield of the one, he will be the help and shield of the other; if he bless the one he will bless the other. Every one that feareth God, and is in the number of the true Israelites, may expect his blessing as well as public persons; the meanest peasant as well as the greatest prince, as they have leave to trust in God, so they may expect his blessing. The reason is that they have all an equal interest in the same God, who is a God of goodness and power, able and willing to relieve all those that trust in him. He is alike affected to all his children, and beareth them the same love. Thomas Manton.
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Ver. 13. He says, both small and great, by which circumstance he magnifies God's paternal regard the more, showing that he does not overlook even the meanest and the most despised, provided they cordially seek his aid. Now as there is no acceptance of persons before God, our low and abject condition ought to be no obstruction to our drawing near to him, since he so kindly invites to approach him those who appear to be held in no reputation. The repetition of the word "bless" is intended to mark the uninterrupted stream of his lovingkindness. John Calvin.
Ver. 13.
1. The general character"fear the Lord."
2. The degrees of development"small and great."
3. The common blessing.
Psalms 115:14*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He will bless them that fear the Lord, both…
Psa_115:13
He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.
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The equality of small and great
There are thousands of young men and women who retain belief in God, but do not fear Him; cherishing the easy notion that since He is so very good, everything will come right by and by. This is not love. It is something near akin to contempt, and God is not good enough to consent to be despised. Rather let me say that He is too good, too righteous, too mindful of the interests of His children, who can only find salvation in faith and love that are touched with holy fear. God is Love. He so loved the world that He gave His son: His lovingkindness is over all His works; and He includes in His Divine regard both the small and the great.
I. We have here a recognition of the natural inequality of men, great and small. Men differ outwardly, and the difference counts for something. But there are deeper differences that count for more: the differences of the mind. Sometimes a massive and majestic frame co-exists with a weak will. Or it may be that a man of feeble appearance, like St. Paul, has a will of tempered steel. And what a force that is. The crowd makes way for one of inflexible determination, and he moves on to the fulfilment of his purpose with something like the inevitableness of fate. As John Foster exclaims, It is wonderful how the casualties of life bow to a will that will not bow to them, and in the end subserve a purpose which at first they seemed to frustrate.
II. The impartiality of God. He will bless both small and great. We are always being tempted to respect of persons; often we scarcely make pretence of resistance. But the Bible reiterates the statement that God is no respecter of persons. He is sublimely impartial. He is a faithful Creator, a loving Father. He is not dazzled by His own gifts. He considers not the beauty, the stature, the cleverness, which come to men without their seeking; but that inner man, which is expressed in character, and which accepts or rejects eternal love. He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.
III. The blessing of God, that tends to make men equal in spite of differences. Lately I was standing near an elm tree that towered scores of feet above me. No other tree was by to draw attention from its solitary glory. The splendour of its early foliage flashed and darkled in the sunshine, and its giant shadow fell across the field. It was a mighty work of God and dwarfed its surroundings, making the bushes of a neighbouring hedge seem little things indeed. A little later my attention was arrested by tiny blossoms shining in the long lush grass beneath this giant tree. Bright-eyes the flowers are called, and the name is descriptive, though I never saw eyes so blue as the petals of these flowers. I plucked one or two, looked up again at the tree, and thought of the contrast. They represented the great and the small. The one had braved the storms of generations, the other lived for a fleeting summer and might be plucked and torn by baby fingers, and yet were they brought into equality by the blessing of Almighty God. Each was perfect in its own order, and it were impossible to say with which Divine power had taken more pains, the elm tree or the bright-eyes. It is a parable: God made the elm tree and the bright-eyes. He made each to fill its place. Each is faithful to its own order. Each equally declares the glory of the Lord. And God has made men both small and great. And when in holy fear and reverent love they open their hearts to Him, as the trees and flowers open their hearts to the sunshine, He blesses them by coming in to dwell with them, and His blessing means that they fulfil their destiny and manifest His glory; and herein are they equal. (G. Hawker.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.