Psalm 29

"The sound of YHWH"

Purpose: To celebrate YHWH's superiority over all gods, and to summon all to submit to him.

Content: Acknowledge YHWH's supremacy, divine beings! YHWH reigned over the Flood, and YHWH continues to reign!

Message: There is no other god like YHWH (cf. Ex. 15:11).

Author: David

Overview

Translation

Click 'Expand' to the right to see our Close-but-Clear translation of Psalm 29.

Expand

1. A psalm by David.

Ascribe [glory and strength] to YHWH, divine beings;

ascribe glory and strength to YHWH.

2. Ascribe to YHWH the honour that his name deserves;

bow down to YHWH dressed in holy attire.

3. The sound of YHWH against the water!

The glorious God has thundered;

YHWH [has thundered] against much water.

4. The sound of YHWH [thundering] in power!

The sound of YHWH [thundering] in majesty!

5. The sound of YHWH breaking cedars!

And YHWH is breaking the cedars of Lebanon,

6. And he is causing Lebanon to skip like a calf,

And Sirion like a wild ox.

7. The sound of YHWH hewing with lightning bolts!

8. YHWH’s voice causes the wilderness to tremble;

YHWH causes the wilderness of Kadesh to tremble.

9. YHWH’s voice causes fallow deer to give birth,

and it strips forests,

and in his temple everyone is saying, “Glory!”

10. YHWH sat enthroned over the Flood,

and YHWH sits enthroned as king forever.

11. YHWH gives strength to his people;

YHWH blesses his people with peace.

The Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources.

For links to other translations of Psalm 29, click here.

Verse-by-Verse

Click the link to view all of Psalm 29 Verse-by-Verse, or click on an individual verse below.

• v. 1
• v. 2
• v. 3
• v. 4
• v. 5
• v. 6
• v. 7
• v. 8
• v. 9
• v. 10
• v. 11

Layer-by-Layer

Psalm Overview

• Grammar
• Semantics
• Story behind the Psalm
• Discourse
• Poetics

Exegetical Issues

• The Syntactic Function of קוֹל יְהוָה in Ps 29
• The Grammar of Ps. 29:6
• The Grammar and Meaning of Ps. 29:7
• The Text and Meaning of Ps. 29:9