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Psalm 47 Bible study: King of all the earth
In Hebrew, the nations of "Oh clap your hands, all you nations" (47:1) and the last verse's peoples and people are one word: the psalm calls the peoples to clap, and ends with their princes "gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham" (47:9). And "gone up" (47:5) and "greatly exalted" (47:9) are one Hebrew verb.
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“For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.”
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“Psalm 47 calls all the nations to clap their hands and shout to God.”
Is that in Psalm 47, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Every call has its reason
The title is "For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah." (47:1), and it says no more than that. Then the psalm calls, and each time it gives the reason with For. "Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph!" (47:1) (tap Shout). Why? "For the LORD Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth" (47:2) (tap King). "Sing praises to God! Sing praises! Sing praises to our King! Sing praises!" (47:6). Why? "For God is the King of all the earth" (47:7). And the psalm's last verse gives one more: "For the shields of the earth belong to God" (47:9). In Hebrew all three are the same small word, ki. Each call to praise comes with a reason, and each reason is about who God is.
Where it leads to Jesus
All authority in heaven and on earth
Psalms 47:8leads toMatthew 28:18
On the mountain in Galilee where he had sent the eleven disciples (Matthew 28:16), Jesus said, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). The psalm sings of who rules all the earth: "He is a great King over all the earth" (Psalm 47:2), "For God is the King of all the earth" (Psalm 47:7), and "God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne" (Psalm 47:8). Jesus doesn't name Psalm 47, and Matthew doesn't point to it, so setting the two together is a reading. It rests on a shared subject, rule over all the earth, not on the word earth alone, and no link between the Hebrew and the Greek is claimed. One reading hears in Jesus's words the rule the psalm gives to God: all authority, in heaven and on earth, given to him. Another keeps each to its own setting: the psalm sings of God, "the LORD Most High" (Psalm 47:2), reigning over the nations; Jesus speaks to the eleven of authority given to him, without pointing to this psalm. These notes don't choose between them, and this line doesn't make "God has gone up" (Psalm 47:5) about Jesus.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 47
- "God has gone up with a shout" (47:5). Is this about Jesus going up into heaven?
- "He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet" (47:3). How does that fit with calling all the nations to clap?
- "The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham" (47:9). Does the psalm mean the nations' princes join God's people?
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 47 is waiting in Favor
- From "all you nations" to "the people"
- Gone up with a shout
- "God reigns", and the psalms that open "The LORD reigns!"
- The shields of the earth
- 6 questions as you read
- 14 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 47 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
עַםamsay AHM
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "people", and among its senses, "a people, nation". Strong's: "a people (as a congregated unit)". Psalm 47 has it four times. "Oh clap your hands, all you nations" (47:1): in Hebrew all you nations is kol ha'ammim, all the peoples. "He subdues nations under us" (47:3): ammim again. And the last verse has it twice: "The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham" (47:9), where peoples is ammim and people is am, the same word in the singular. The WEB gives it as nations, peoples and people. Two other Hebrew words are in the psalm: peoples in 47:3 is le'ummim, and nations in 47:8 is goyim.
For your group
Psalm 47 Bible study questions
- 1"Oh clap your hands, all you nations" (47:1). What does praise that others can see and hear look like for you, and what makes it hard?
- 2"He chooses our inheritance for us" (47:4). Where have you seen God give you something you wouldn't have chosen for yourself?
- 3"Sing praises with understanding" (47:7). What have you come to understand about God lately that you could put into your own words of praise?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 47 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 47 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home