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He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
Psalms 113:9 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He settles the barren woman in her home, as a joyful mother of children. Praise Yah!
  • BSB He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!
  • NKJV He grants the barren woman a home, Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!
  • NASB He has the infertile woman live in the house As a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!
  • NLT He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the Lord!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God gives the barren woman a home as a joyful mother of children. He turns reproach into rejoicing, so praise the Lord.

Overview

God's care reaches the barren woman, whose childlessness brought deep sorrow in Israel; He grants her a household and joy, as with Sarah, Hannah, and others. The verse closes the psalm with another picture of God exalting the lowly, ending where it began, in praise. It points to the God who brings life and joy out of barrenness, supremely in the new birth He gives in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 68:6God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
  • Gen 21:5–7And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
  • 1 Sam 2:5They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
  • Gen 30:22–23And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
  • Isa 54:1Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
  • Luke 1:13–15But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
  • Gen 25:21And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
  • Gal 4:27For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 113:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 113:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.