Psalms

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Psalm 47

1 For the music director, by the Korahites; a psalm. All you nations, clap your hands. Shout out to God in celebration. 2 For the Lord Most High is awe-inspiring; he is the great king who rules the whole earth! 3 He subdued nations beneath us and countries under our feet. 4 He picked out for us a special land to be a source of pride for Jacob, whom he loves. (Selah) 5 God has ascended his throne amid loud shouts;⁠ the Lord has ascended amid the blaring of ram’s horns. 6 Sing to God! Sing! Sing to our king! Sing! 7 For God is king of the whole earth. Sing a well-written song. 8 God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. 9 The nobles of the nations assemble, along with the people of the God of Abraham, for God has authority over the rulers of the earth. He is highly exalted.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 47:5 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

Summary

Psalm 47 describes God ascending with shouts and trumpets, celebrating him sitting on his throne after battle. 1 Thessalonians echoes this but reverses its direction, describing God descending with a commanding cry and the sound of the final trumpet.

Passages

Psalm 47:5

Hebrew Bible

3 He subdued nations beneath us and countries under our feet. 4 He picked out for us a special land to be a source of pride for Jacob, whom he loves. (Selah) 5 God has ascended his throne amid loud shouts; the Lord has ascended amid the blaring of ram’s horns. 6 Sing to God! Sing! Sing to our king! Sing! 7 For God is king of the whole earth. Sing a well-written song.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

1 Thessalonians 4:16

New Testament

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. 15 For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

41–51 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Thessalonians

References

"... Fee points out the linguistic similarity between this and Psalm 47:5: “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet”. The κύριος of the Psalm is the ascended Christ, whose return will be accompanied by “the voice” and with “the trumpet” of God. Craig Evans analyses 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, and sees a variety of traditions, much of which will have taken shape before Paul’s usage. Paul evidently understood Psalm 47:6 in a judgmental way, and this is echoed in the “cry of command”, rather than “shout of joy”. Believers are raised; unbelievers are judged. Although not cited as a prooftext, or as a prophecy fulfilled, Psalm 47:6 has, nevertheless, made a significant contribution to the eschatological idea of 1 Thessalonians ..."

Iain Gibb, “Paul and the Psalms: Paul's Hermeneutic and Worldview” (MTh(R) diss., University of Glasgow, 2017), 130–131.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Psalm 47:5 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Summary

Passages

Psalm 47:5

1 Thessalonians 4:16

References

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