Go to Related Reading
About this book

Psalms

About this book
Psalm 96

1 Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth.⁠ 2 Sing to the Lord. Praise his name. Announce every day how he delivers. 3 Tell the nations about his splendor. Tell all the nations about his amazing deeds. 4 For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise; he is more awesome than all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, but the Lord made the sky. 6 Majestic splendor emanates from him; his sanctuary is firmly established and beautiful.⁠ 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations, ascribe to the Lord splendor and strength.⁠ 8 Ascribe to the Lord the splendor he deserves. Bring an offering and enter his courts. 9 Worship the Lord in holy attire. Tremble before him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! The world is established; it cannot be moved. He judges the nations fairly.” 11 Let the sky rejoice, and the earth be happy. Let the sea and everything in it shout. 12 Let the fields and everything in them celebrate. Then let the trees of the forest shout with joy 13 before the Lord, for he comes. For he comes to judge the earth. He judges the world fairly and the nations in accordance with his justice.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 29:1 and Psalm 96:7

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Psalm 96 echoes Psalm 29 but reshapes it to address people instead of gods, transforming an older Israelite tradition of a divine council praising God into one where all nations worship God. The change shows a move away from polytheism or henotheism.

Passages

Psalm 29:1

Hebrew Bible
1 A psalm of David. Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings, acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power. 2 Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation. Worship the Lord in holy attire. 3 The Lord’s shout is heard over the water; the majestic God thunders, the Lord appears over the surging water.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Psalm 96:7

Hebrew Bible
5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, but the Lord made the sky. 6 Majestic splendor emanates from him; his sanctuary is firmly established and beautiful. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations, ascribe to the Lord splendor and strength. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the splendor he deserves. Bring an offering and enter his courts. 9 Worship the Lord in holy attire. Tremble before him, all the earth.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... Tov regards the change of bene elohım, “divine beings,” in Psalm 29:1 to mispehot ammım, “families of the people,” in Psalm 96:7 as another example of such an “anti-polytheistic alteration.” For the literary dependence of Psalm 96 on Psalm 29, see H. L. Ginsberg, “A Strand in the Cord of Hebrew Psalmody” ... Psalm 29 reflects an early expression of Israelite polytheism ..."
Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 223–224.

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

Tags

Your feedback

Psalm 29:1 and Psalm 96:7

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library