The Meaning of Psalms 147:4 Explained

Psalms 147:4

KJV: He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

YLT: Appointing the number of the stars, To all them He giveth names.

Darby: He counteth the number of the stars; he giveth names to them all.

ASV: He counteth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He telleth  the number  of the stars;  he calleth  them all by [their] names. 

What does Psalms 147:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 147:1-11 - Why We Praise The Lord
It has been supposed that this psalm was prepared for use when the new walls of the city were completed in the days of Nehemiah. It contains a further enumeration of God's present tenses. The psalmist never tires of celebrating the immediateness of God. He will not tolerate the intervention of second causes, which are the artifice of scientific explanation. Laws are, after all, only the convenient statement of the regularity of God's methods. The couplets of this psalm are amazingly suggestive. By contrast they complete each other. God builds up the great city of Jerusalem, but His heart goes out to the individual prodigal. He is equally at home in the hospital where broken hearts congregate, and among the stars, which He names and counts as a shepherd His flock. He upholds the meek and overthrows the proud. Spring, with its clouds and rain and sprouting grass, is His work; but so also the wild life of the forest, with its beasts and birds. He has no such delight in athletic strength or speed as He has in the reverent worship of His people. There is a perfect balance and rhythm in God's nature. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 147

1  The prophet exhorts to praise God for his care of the church
4  His power and wisdom
6  His mercy
7  His providence
12  To praise him for his blessings upon the kingdom
15  For his power over the elements
19  And for his ordinances in the church

What do the individual words in Psalms 147:4 mean?

He counts the number of the stars them all by name He calls
מוֹנֶ֣ה מִ֭סְפָּר לַכּוֹכָבִ֑ים לְ֝כֻלָּ֗ם שֵׁמ֥וֹת יִקְרָֽא

מוֹנֶ֣ה  He  counts 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: מָנָה  
Sense: to count, reckon, number, assign, tell, appoint, prepare.
מִ֭סְפָּר  the  number 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִסְפָּר  
Sense: number, tale.
לַכּוֹכָבִ֑ים  of  the  stars 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: כֹּוכָב  
Sense: star.
לְ֝כֻלָּ֗ם  them  all 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
שֵׁמ֥וֹת  by  name 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
יִקְרָֽא  He  calls 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.

What are the major concepts related to Psalms 147:4?

Loading Information...