Praise him, you heavens of heavens, you waters that are above the heavens.
Let them praise Yahweh’s name, for he commanded, and they were created.
He has also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass away.
Parallel Translations
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Praise him, you heavens of heavens, you waters that are above the heavens.
Let them praise Yahweh’s name, for he commanded, and they were created.
He has also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass away.
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Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
Show all 3 translations
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Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that are above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD; for He commanded, and they were created.
He hath also established them for ever and ever; He hath made a decree which shall not be transgressed.
Cross-references (25)
- Revelation 4:11 (v5) “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of…
- Genesis 1:6 (v5) God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
- Jeremiah 33:25 (v6) Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
- 1 Kings 8:27 (v4) But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I…
- Psalms 33:6-9 (v5) By Yahweh’s word, the heavens were made: all their army by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He…
Show all 25 cross-references
- Jeremiah 31:35-36 (v6) Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea,…
- Genesis 1:1-2 (v5) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and…
- Genesis 1:7 (v4) God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
- Job 38:33 (v6) Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?
- Psalms 89:37 (v6) It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.”
- Jeremiah 10:11-13 (v5) “You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under the…
- Deuteronomy 10:14 (v4) Behold, to Yahweh your God belongs heaven, the heaven of heavens, and the earth, with all that is therein.
- Psalms 95:5 (v5) The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land.
- Psalms 119:90-91 (v6) Your faithfulness is to all generations. You have established the earth, and it remains. Your laws remain to this day, for all things serve…
- Amos 9:6 (v5) It is he who builds his rooms in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours…
- Job 38:10-11 (v6) marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors, and said, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here?’
- Nehemiah 9:6 (v4) You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it,…
- Psalms 93:1 (v6) Yahweh reigns! He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can’t be moved.
- Proverbs 8:27-29 (v6) When he established the heavens, I was there. When he set a circle on the surface of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when…
- Isaiah 54:9 (v6) “For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn…
- Genesis 7:11 (v4) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the…
- Psalms 68:33 (v4) To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.
- Psalms 104:3 (v4) He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.
- Psalms 113:6 (v4) Who stoops down to see in heaven and in the earth?
- 2 Corinthians 12:2 (v4) I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I don’t know, or whether out of the body, I don’t know; God knows), such a…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v5 5. Let them praise the name, etc. As he…
5. Let them praise the name, etc. As he speaks of things wanting intelligence, he passes to the third person, from which we infer that his reason for having spoken in the second person hitherto, was to make a deeper impression upon men. And he asks no other praise than that which may teach us that the stars did not make themselves, nor the rains spring from chance; for notwithstanding the signal proofs we constantly have before our eyes of the divine power, we with shameful carelessness overlook the great author. He says emphatically — for He Himself created, intimating that the world is not eternal, as wicked men conjecture, nor made by a concourse of atoms, but that this fair order of things which we see, suddenly sprang forth upon the commandment of God. And, speaking of the creation, he adds what is even more worthy of observation, that he gave that law to them which remains inviolable. For many, while they grant that the world was made by God, lapse from this into the senseless notion that now the order of nature stands of itself, and that God sits idle in the heavens. The Psalmist very properly insists, therefore, that the works of God above us in the heavens were not only made by him, but even now move forward at his disposal; and that not only was a secret power communicated to them at first, but while they go through their assigned parts, their operation and ministry to their various ends is dependent upon God.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 That is, the rain which is in the middle…
That is, the rain which is in the middle region of the air, which he here comprehendeth under the name of the heavens.
Not that there are divers heavens, but because of the spheres and of the situation of the fixed stars and planets, he comprehendeth by this word the whole heaven.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Psa 148:4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and…
Psa 148:4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that [be] above the heavens.
Ver. 4. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens] Whereby he meaneth not the lowest heavens, the air whereon we breathe, and wherein birds fly, clouds swim, &c., as some would have it; but the highest heaven, called by St Paul the third heaven, the habitation of the crowned saints and glorious angels; called by philosophers coelum Empyreum, and here by the psalmist the heavens of heavens, as King of kings, Song of songs, &c., by an excellence. See Deu 10:14.
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And ye waters that be above the heavens] i.e. Above the air, and that do distinguish between the air and the sky, as the Primmn Mobile doth between the sky and the highest heavens, Superius suspensae aquarum fornices.
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 On vv4–6 Ye heavens of heavens; ye highest and most glorious…
Ye heavens of heavens; ye highest and most glorious heavens, the place of God’s throne and glorious presence, as this phrase is used, Deu 10:14; 1Ki 8:27; Neh 9:6; Psa 115:16. Or, ye starry heavens, which also may well be so called, because they are above the air, which is oft. called heaven in Scripture.
Ye waters that be above the heavens; ye clouds, which are above a part of the heavens; of which See Poole "Gen 1:7".
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 On vv4–6 Praise him, ye heaven of heavens,.... All the heavens,…
Praise him, ye heaven of heavens,.... All the heavens, the airy and starry heavens; and the third heaven, the residence of God, angels and saints: these are made by the Lord, and declare the glory of his power, wisdom, and goodness, and show forth his handiwork, Psa 19:1. A voice was heard from heaven, praising Jehovah the Son, when on earth in our nature; a cloud of the lower heavens received him when he went from hence, and in the clouds thereof he will come again: the highest heavens opened to receive him, and will retain him until the restitution of all things; and from hence he will descend to judge the world in righteousness, Mat 3:16;
and ye waters that be above the heavens; divided by the firmament from the waters below; and are no other than the thick clouds, in which the waters are bound up, and not rent, but at the pleasure of God, Gen 1:7; so Seneca (d) calls the clouds the celestial waters. And these give men occasion to praise the Lord, that those vast bodies of water that are over their heads are not let down in such large quantities upon them as would destroy them; and that are carried about from place to place, and let down and gentle showers, to water and refresh the earth, and make it fruitful, so that it brings forth food for man and beast. The Targum is,
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"ye waters, that by the Word (of the Lord) hang above the heavens;''
in which is displayed the glory of amazing power, wisdom, and goodness. The most ancient Syrians and Arabians were thoroughly persuaded, that beyond the bounds of the visible heavens there was a great sea, without any limits; which some (e) suppose to be the waters here meant.
(d) Nat. Quaest. l. 3. c. 23. (e) Vid. Steeb. Coelum Sephirot. Heb. c. 7. s. 3. p. 126, 127. and Gregory's Works, p. 110.
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 On vv4, 6 Heavens of heavens - Ye highest heavens, the place…
Heavens of heavens - Ye highest heavens, the place of God's throne. Waters - Ye clouds which are above a part of the heavens.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Verse 4. Heavens of heavens] Heavens exceeding heavens. Systems…
Verse 4. Heavens of heavens] Heavens exceeding heavens. Systems of systems extending as far beyond the solar system, as it does beyond the lowest deeps. The endless systematic concatenation of worlds.
Ye waters that be above the heavens.] This refers to Ge 1:7, where see the notes. Clouds, vapours, air, exhalations, rain, snow, and meteors of every kind.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v5 Psa 148:5-6. Let them praise the name of the…
Psa 148:5-6. Let them praise the name of the Lord — “Who hath set forth his most transcendent wisdom, power, and magnificence in such a variety of stupendous works, that there is not the smallest of them, but ministers such matter of praise and admiration to those who attentively consider them, that they cannot but wish, with the psalmist here, that every one of them were able to tell us how much skill he hath shown in its contrivance; or that we were able to find it out and comprehend it.” He commanded, and they were created — They owe their existence wholly to his will and pleasure. He hath also established them for ever and ever — To the end of the world. They are, by his superintending and watchful providence, constantly preserved and continued. He made a decree, &c. — “That is, prescribed rules to the heavens, the stars, and other creatures, as to their situation, motion, and influence; which, though inanimate, they never transgress.” — Dodd.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens - Referring to…
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens - Referring to the idea that there is one heaven rising above another. See the notes at Psa 68:33. See 1Ki 8:27 : “Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee.” Compare 2Ch 2:6.
And ye waters that be above the heavens - Gen 1:7 : “And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.” The allusion here is to the waters which seem to be above the lower heaven, that is, the air, and which seem to come from some higher region - some higher heaven. See the notes at Psa 104:3 : “Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4–6 heavens of heavens--the very highest.
heavens of heavens--the very highest.
waters--clouds, resting above the visible heavens (compare Gen 1:7).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v6 6. He hath also stablished them—He hath constituted them.…
6. He hath also stablished them—He hath constituted them. The heavenly bodies are here referred to. God has not only created—brought into existence—but he has firmly established the order and relation of all things in one vast harmonious system.
He hath made a decree which shall not pass—Literally, He hath made a law they shall not transgress. So the word rendered “pass” often means. God’s laws in nature furnish the most perfect model of order and stability. From a world to an atom, nature never transgresses or passes beyond them. Miracles are not an exception. They only prove that nature is obedient to her Lord.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. heavens of heavens] i.e. the highest heavens. Cp.…
4. heavens of heavens] i.e. the highest heavens. Cp. Psa_68:33; Deu_10:14; 1Ki_8:27 (= 2Ch_6:18); 1Ch_2:6; Neh_9:6; Sir_16:18. It is doubtful whether the idea of a plurality of heavens, three (2Co_12:2) or seven, which is prominent in later Jewish literature, was already current. See however Salmond in Hastings’ Dict. of the Bible, 11. 321, who thinks that it is implied by this phrase.
ye waters that be above the heavens] The great reservoir of waters supposed to exist above the ‘firmament,’ the source of rain. See Gen_1:6-7; Psa_104:3.
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 On vv4, 6 (4) Heavens of heavens.—See Psa_68:33, and references. Before passing…
(4) Heavens of heavens.—See Psa_68:33, and references. Before passing downwards to the earth the invocation pauses to combine all the heights, which have been before addressed in the expression which denotes their position relatively to the earth; the highest heaven of all, and then the world of water which, in the Hebrew conception of the Cosmos, was supposed to be the foundation, while itself rests on the firmament or heavenly vault. (See Psa_104:3.)
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 On vv4–6 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens; i.e. "ye highest…
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens; i.e. "ye highest heavens". (comp. Deu_10:14 1Ki_8:27 Psa_68:33) And ye waters that be above the heavens. (comp. Gen_1:7) The clouds are probably intended.
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 On vv4–6 Ver. 4. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens. By…
Ver. 4. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens. By these are meant those regions which are heavens to those who dwell in our heavens; or those most heavenly of abodes where the most choice of spirits dwell. As the highest of the highest, so the best of the best are to praise the Lord. If we could climb as much above the heavens as the heavens are above the earth, we could still cry out to all around us, "Praise ye the Lord." There can be none so great and high as to be above praising Jehovah.
And ye waters that be above the heavens. Let the clouds roll up volumes of adoration. Let the sea above roar, and the fulness thereof, at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel. There is something of mystery about these supposed reservoirs of water; but let them be what they may, and as they may, they shall give glory to the Lord our God. Let the most unknown and perplexing phenomena take up their parts in the universal praise.
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Ver. 4. Paise him, ye heavens of heavens, etc. From the heavenly inhabitants the poetic strain passes in transition to the heavens themselves. There are orders of heavens, ranks and heights supreme, and stages and degrees of lower altitude. This verse sublimely traverses the immensities which are the home of the most exalted dignities who wait on Deity, and then it descends to the firmament where the meteors flash forth, and where the heavens stoop to lift the clouds that aspire from earth. And the idea sustained is that all these vast realms, higher and lower, are one temple of unceasing praise. Herman Venema.
Ver. 4. The ancients thought there was an ethereal and lofty ocean in which the worlds floated like ships in a sea. Thomas Le Blanc.
Psalms 148:5*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v5 Let them praise the name of Yahweh
Let them praise the name of Yahweh
Here the word "name" represents Yahweh himself. AT: "Let them praise Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
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they were created
This can be stated in active form. AT: "he created them" (See: Active or Passive)
he issued a decree that will never change
Possible meanings are 1) "he gave a command that is permanent" or 2) "he gave a command that they will not disobey."
he issued
"he gave"
translationWords
name
command
create
eternity
decree
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 148:6 The created order is stable because of the…
148:6 The created order is stable because of the Lord’s word (see 33:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.