Twenty six verses, and the same second half in every one of them. That is not repetition for its own sake: the psalm is a call and response, one voice reading what God did and the whole room answering. Chronicles and Ezra both show crowds answering with these exact words at dedications, so the shape is documented rather than guessed. Read down the left side only and you get the argument: creation, then the exodus, then the kings east of the Jordan, then us, then bread for everything alive. The tradition calls it the Great Hallel.
1
הוֹדוּ לַיהֹוָה כִּי טוֹב
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לַיהֹוָה
lai-ho-VA
to the LORD
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The opening imperative is plural: nobody sings this one alone. The ground given first is that God is good, before a single deed has been named.
2
הוֹדוּ לֵאלֹהֵי הָאֱלֹהִים
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לֵאלֹהֵי
le-lo-HEI
to the God of
הָאֱלֹהִים
ha-e-lo-HIM
the gods
Give thanks to the God of gods,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
A superlative built by construction rather than by adjective. God of gods is Hebrew for the highest of a class, and the class is not thereby conceded any members.
3
הוֹדוּ לַאֲדֹנֵי הָאֲדֹנִים
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לַאֲדֹנֵי
la-a-do-NEI
to the Lord of
הָאֲדֹנִים
ha-a-do-NIM
the lords
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The second superlative closes the pair and finishes the opening frame. Both titles come from the vocabulary of overlordship, the way a great king was addressed.
4
לְעֹשֵׂה נִפְלָאוֹת גְּדֹלוֹת לְבַדּוֹ
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְעֹשֵׂה
le-o-SE
to the One who makes
נִפְלָאוֹת
nif-la-OT
wonders
לְבַדּוֹ
le-va-DO
by Himself
To the One who alone does great wonders,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The list of deeds opens, and the first thing said about them is alone. Everything catalogued from here down has exactly one agent.
5
לְעֹשֵׂה הַשָּׁמַיִם בִּתְבוּנָה
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְעֹשֵׂה
le-o-SE
to the One who makes
הַשָּׁמַיִם
ha-sha-MA-yim
the heavens
בִּתְבוּנָה
bit-vu-NA
with understanding
To the One who made the heavens with understanding,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
Creation by understanding, not by force or by combat. The instrument named is a mental one, which is unusual in ancient accounts of how the sky got made.
6
לְרֹקַע הָאָרֶץ עַל הַמָּיִם
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְרֹקַע
le-RO-ka
to the One who spreads out
הָאָרֶץ
ha-A-retz
the earth
הַמָּיִם
ha-ma-YIM
the waters
To the One who spread the earth out over the waters,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The verb is metalwork: hammering a sheet out thin. It shares a root with the beaten expanse of the second day in Genesis, so the earth here is worked, not spoken.
7
לְעֹשֵׂה אוֹרִים גְּדֹלִים
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְעֹשֵׂה
le-o-SE
to the One who makes
To the One who made great lights,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The lights get a line of their own before either of them is named, exactly as they do in the creation account. The naming is held back on purpose.
8
אֶת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת בַּיּוֹם
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ
ha-SHE-mesh
the sun
לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת
le-mem-SHE-let
for the dominion of
the sun for dominion by day,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The sun is named and handed a job. Rule, not divinity: the noun is the kind of authority a king delegates to an officer who can be replaced.
9
אֶת הַיָּרֵחַ וְכוֹכָבִים לְמֶמְשְׁלוֹת בַּלָּיְלָה
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
הַיָּרֵחַ
ha-ya-RE-ach
the moon
וְכוֹכָבִים
ve-cho-cha-VIM
and stars
לְמֶמְשְׁלוֹת
le-mem-SHLOT
for the dominions of
בַּלָּיְלָה
ba-lai-LA
in the night
the moon and stars for dominion by night,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
Moon and stars share one office and one line. The word for dominion goes plural here where the sun took the singular, which is a small grammatical courtesy to the fact that there are many of them.
10
לְמַכֵּה מִצְרַיִם בִּבְכוֹרֵיהֶם
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְמַכֵּה
le-ma-KE
to the One who strikes
מִצְרַיִם
mitz-RA-yim
Egypt
בִּבְכוֹרֵיהֶם
biv-cho-REI-hem
through their firstborn
To the One who struck Egypt through their firstborn,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The hinge from cosmos to history, and the grammar does not change to mark it. Making stars and striking Egypt are stated in the same form, as one continuous series.
11
וַיּוֹצֵא יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתּוֹכָם
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
וַיּוֹצֵא
va-yo-TZE
and He brought out
יִשְׂרָאֵל
yis-ra-EL
Israel
מִתּוֹכָם
mi-to-CHAM
from among them
and brought Israel out from among them,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The exodus put as extraction rather than escape. Israel is taken out from inside Egypt, which assumes it was embedded there and not merely camped.
12
בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
וּבִזְרוֹעַ
u-viz-RO-a
and with an arm
נְטוּיָה
ne-tu-YA
outstretched
with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
A fixed formula lifted whole out of Deuteronomy, where it belongs to the standard telling of the exodus. The psalm quotes rather than invents.
13
לְגֹזֵר יַם סוּף לִגְזָרִים
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְגֹזֵר
le-go-ZER
to the One who cuts
לִגְזָרִים
lig-za-RIM
into pieces
To the One who cut the Sea of Reeds into pieces,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
Not parted, cut. The verb and its object noun come from dividing a carcass or a garment, so the sea is treated as material rather than as an enemy.
14
וְהֶעֱבִיר יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּתוֹכוֹ
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
וְהֶעֱבִיר
ve-he-e-VIR
and He made pass
יִשְׂרָאֵל
yis-ra-EL
Israel
בְּתוֹכוֹ
be-to-CHO
through the middle of it
and made Israel pass through the middle of it,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The crossing gets its own verse. Splitting the sea is not the deed being praised on its own; the deed is that people walked through the gap.
15
וְנִעֵר פַּרְעֹה וְחֵילוֹ בְיַם סוּף
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
וְנִעֵר
ve-ni-ER
and He shook off
וְחֵילוֹ
ve-chei-LO
and his army
and shook Pharaoh and his army off into the Sea of Reeds,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The verb is what you do to crumbs in a garment. Pharaoh is not defeated in battle here, he is shaken out, which is a deliberate reduction of his stature.
16
לְמוֹלִיךְ עַמּוֹ בַּמִּדְבָּר
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְמוֹלִיךְ
le-mo-LICH
to the One who leads
בַּמִּדְבָּר
ba-mid-BAR
in the wilderness
To the One who led His people through the wilderness,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
Forty years compressed into three words, and listed among the acts of love rather than as the empty gap between two of them.
17
לְמַכֵּה מְלָכִים גְּדֹלִים
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְמַכֵּה
le-ma-KE
to the One who strikes
To the One who struck down great kings,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The participle returns after two finite verbs, and it takes kings as its object. The adjective great was last attached to the lights of verse 7.
18
וַיַּהֲרֹג מְלָכִים אַדִּירִים
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
וַיַּהֲרֹג
va-ya-ha-ROG
and He killed
and killed mighty kings,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The parallel line escalates twice over: struck becomes killed, and great becomes mighty. Hebrew poetry usually sharpens on the second pass rather than restating.
19
לְסִיחוֹן מֶלֶךְ הָאֱמֹרִי
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
לְסִיחוֹן
le-si-CHON
to Sihon
הָאֱמֹרִי
ha-e-mo-RI
the Amorite
Sihon king of the Amorites,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The abstraction gets a name. After Pharaoh, this is the first individual opponent identified, and he belongs to a specific road east of the Jordan.
20
וּלְעוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁן
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
הַבָּשָׁן
ha-ba-SHAN
the Bashan
and Og king of Bashan,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
Og gets the identical treatment, one line and a title. The pair of names stands in for the whole eastern campaign without narrating any of it.
21
וְנָתַן אַרְצָם לְנַחֲלָה
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
וְנָתַן
ve-na-TAN
and He gave
לְנַחֲלָה
le-na-cha-LA
as an inheritance
and gave their land as an inheritance,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The point of the two battles arrives: land. The word chosen is the legal one for property that passes down a family, not the word for spoil.
22
נַחֲלָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַבְדּוֹ
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
נַחֲלָה
na-cha-LA
an inheritance
לְיִשְׂרָאֵל
lyis-ra-EL
to Israel
an inheritance for Israel His servant,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The line begins by repeating the last word of the one before it and then adds the recipient. Servant here is a rank in a household, not an insult.
23
שֶׁבְּשִׁפְלֵנוּ זָכַר לָנוּ
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
שֶׁבְּשִׁפְלֵנוּ
sheb-shif-le-NU
who in our low state
Who in our low state remembered us,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The pronoun switches to us and the psalm stops being history. Whoever is singing has just been written into the list, and no event is specified.
24
וַיִּפְרְקֵנוּ מִצָּרֵינוּ
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
וַיִּפְרְקֵנוּ
va-yif-re-ke-NU
and He tore us away
מִצָּרֵינוּ
mi-tza-rei-NU
from our foes
and tore us free from our foes,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The shortest line in the psalm, two words before the refrain. Its verb is the one used for wrenching a yoke off a neck, so the rescue is described as force applied to a fastening.
25
נֹתֵן לֶחֶם לְכׇל בָּשָׂר
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
נֹתֵן
no-TEN
the One who gives
Who gives bread to all flesh,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The widest line in the psalm, and it comes last. All flesh takes in the nations and the animals, immediately after twenty verses about one people.
26
הוֹדוּ לְאֵל הַשָּׁמָיִם
כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ
הַשָּׁמָיִם
ha-sha-ma-YIM
the heavens
Give thanks to the God of heaven,
חַסְדּוֹ
chas-DO
His steadfast love
for His steadfast love is for ever.
The closing imperative matches the three that opened the psalm, with a title that appears mainly in the latest books of the Bible. The frame shuts.
♦ PARDES analysis: פרדס
The four levels of Jewish reading of the sacred text: פשט Peshat (literal meaning), רמז Remez (symbolic allusion), דרש Drash (midrashic interpretation), סוד Sod (mystical meaning). The word פרדס means "orchard", each level is a fruit.
פשט · Peshat: literal meaning
Every verse is cut in two by the same second half, which makes this a call and response rather than a poem read straight through: one voice takes the left side, the room answers the right. Chronicles and Ezra both record crowds answering with these exact words at dedications, so the form is attested and not merely inferred from the layout. The left side moves in three blocks. Verses 4 to 9 are creation, following the order of the first chapter of Genesis. Verses 10 to 22 are the exodus and the march east of the Jordan, ending in land held as inheritance. Verses 23 to 25 drop the past tense of history and speak as us, and the last of the three widens past Israel to everything that eats. Verses 1 to 3 and verse 26 are the frame, four calls to give thanks.
רמז · Remez: allusion
The familiar English, His mercy endures for ever, is weaker than what stands there. The noun at חַסְדּוֹ (chas-do, v.1) is covenant loyalty, what one party owes another because of a bond already in place, and for ever is a stretch of time rather than a condition outside it. The grammar makes the psalm's main claim by itself: the deeds are introduced by participles, to the One who makes, to the One who spreads out at לְרֹקַע (le-ro-ka, v.6), to the One who strikes, so that flattening the earth and striking Egypt are the same kind of act stated in the same shape. Lines that continue a previous one drop the participle and take a plain past verb, which is how you can tell the list's joints. Two verbs repay attention: וְנִעֵר (ve-ni-er, v.15), used of shaking crumbs from a garment, and וַיִּפְרְקֵנוּ (va-yif-re-ke-nu, v.24), used of tearing a yoke off a neck. And the sun receives a singular dominion at לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת (le-mem-she-let, v.8) where the moon and stars share a plural at לְמֶמְשְׁלוֹת (le-mem-shlot, v.9).
דרש · Drash: midrashic reading
The tradition calls this psalm the Great Hallel, and the reason usually given for the name is its last deed, נֹתֵן (no-ten, v.25), that God gives bread to all flesh. On that reading the greatness is not the sea or the kings but the feeding of every living thing every day, and the psalm is arranged as a descent from the spectacular to the ordinary with the ordinary as the climax. The count of verses, twenty six, matches the numerical value of the four letter divine name, and the match is widely taken as deliberate rather than accidental. The turn at שֶׁבְּשִׁפְלֵנוּ (sheb-shif-le-nu, v.23) is where the reciters stop being an audience: up to that word the psalm lists what was done for other people in other centuries, and from there the deliverance is the singer's own, with no event named, so that any generation can put its own low state into the gap.
סוד · Sod: mystical reading
In kabbalistic accounts loyalty is the first of the outflowing attributes, the one that gives before anything has been weighed or judged, so a psalm that names it twenty six times is read as a channel held open rather than a receipt for past favours. Notice that the refrain never varies: all the variation sits on the human side of the line, while the answer stays identical, which is itself the claim being made about the giver. The closing title at לְאֵל (le-el, v.26), the God of heaven, is the name that dominates the latest books of the Bible, and the reading takes the whole psalm as one long movement from the heavens made with understanding at בִּתְבוּנָה (bit-vu-na, v.5) down as far as bread, and then back up.