The Meaning of Psalms 136:12 Explained

Psalms 136:12

KJV: With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.

YLT: By a strong hand, and a stretched-out-arm, For to the age is His kindness.

Darby: With a powerful hand and with a stretched-out arm, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever;

ASV: With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

With a strong  hand,  and with a stretched out  arm:  for his mercy  [endureth] for ever. 

What does Psalms 136:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 136:1-12 - A Review Of God's Mercies
An antiphonal psalm, intended to be sung by two choirs or by a soloist and the Temple choir. This avowal of the eternity of God's mercy, amid all the fluctuation and change of human affairs, is very striking. When we can look out on the history of our world from God's standpoint, we discover that the black-edged pages have been interleaved with golden pages of mercy. When we review our own lives from the vantage ground of heaven, we shall see that the mercy of God was the blue sky of background across which the dark clouds floated for but a limited space.
The divisions are as follows: Creation, Psalms 136:1-9; Redemption, Psalms 136:10-22; Providence, Psalms 136:23-26. In the first division the psalmist views the framework of the world and the redemption of Israel from Egypt as equal monuments of the divine loving-kindness. It was love that made the theater on which the great revelation of redemption was manifested. The crimson lips of a tulip's petals are His work as well as the crimson blood that flowed at Calvary. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 136

1  An exhortation to give thanks to God for particular mercies

What do the individual words in Psalms 136:12 mean?

With a hand mighty and with an arm outstretched for ever His mercy [endures]
בְּיָ֣ד חֲ֭זָקָה וּבִזְר֣וֹעַ נְטוּיָ֑ה כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּֽוֹ

בְּיָ֣ד  With  a  hand 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
חֲ֭זָקָה  mighty 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: חָזָק  
Sense: strong, stout, mighty.
וּבִזְר֣וֹעַ  and  with  an  arm 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: זְרֹועַ  
Sense: arm, forearm, shoulder, strength.
נְטוּיָ֑ה  outstretched 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, feminine singular
Root: נָטָה 
Sense: to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow.
לְעוֹלָ֣ם  ever 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
חַסְדּֽוֹ  His  mercy  [endures] 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: חֶסֶד 
Sense: goodness, kindness, faithfulness.