The Meaning of Psalms 106:45 Explained

Psalms 106:45

KJV: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

YLT: And remembereth for them His covenant, And is comforted, According to the abundance of His kindness.

Darby: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses;

ASV: And he remembered for them his covenant, And repented according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And he remembered  for them his covenant,  and repented  according to the multitude  of his mercies. 

What does Psalms 106:45 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 106:34-48 - Regarded When They Cried
Israel's conquest of Canaan did not fulfill the divine mandate. The inhabitants, whose sins had become a menace to mankind, were allowed to exist side by side with the Hebrew immigrants; and, as is often the case, the conquerors were conquered, and the invaders were contaminated by the morals of the invaded. Intermarriage poured a large admixture of alien blood into Israel, and the excesses of idolatry, even to the hideous practice of human sacrifices, became intensified by the ties of kinship and neighborhood.
The whole history of Israel is summed up as alternating cycles of sin and punishment, repentance and deliverance; and we are left wondering, first at the inveterate evil of the human heart, which learns nothing from experience, and next at the inexhaustible long-suffering of God, which, while justice strikes, yet finds some way of alleviating the smart of the stroke, Psalms 106:46. The love of God persists all through humanism and outreaches it.
The prayer of Psalms 106:47 shows that this psalm was written in exile. The psalmist hopes and believes that one result of his people's restoration will be thankfulness and the expression upon grateful lips of never-ending praise. So ends the fourth book of the Psalter.
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 106

1  The psalmist exhorts to praise God
4  He prays for pardon of sin, as God pardoned the fathers
7  The story of the people's rebellion, and God's mercy
47  He concludes with prayer and praise

What do the individual words in Psalms 106:45 mean?

and He remembered for their sake His covenant and relented according to the multitude of His mercies
וַיִּזְכֹּ֣ר לָהֶ֣ם בְּרִית֑וֹ וַ֝יִּנָּחֵ֗ם כְּרֹ֣ב חסדו [חֲסָדָֽיו]

וַיִּזְכֹּ֣ר  and  He  remembered 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: זָכַר 
Sense: to remember, recall, call to mind.
לָהֶ֣ם  for  their  sake 
Parse: Preposition-l, Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
בְּרִית֑וֹ  His  covenant 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בְּרִית  
Sense: covenant, alliance, pledge.
וַ֝יִּנָּחֵ֗ם  and  relented 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָחַם  
Sense: to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted.
כְּרֹ֣ב  according  to  the  multitude 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רֹב  
Sense: multitude, abundance, greatness.
[חֲסָדָֽיו]  His  mercies 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: חֶסֶד 
Sense: goodness, kindness, faithfulness.