Limitless Word
He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!
Psalms 147:20 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He has not done this for just any nation. They don’t know his ordinances. Praise Yah!
  • KJV He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
  • NKJV He has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His judgments, they have not known them. Praise the Lord!
  • NASB He has not dealt this way with any other nation; And as for His judgments, they have not known them. Praise the Lord!
  • NLT He has not done this for any other nation; they do not know his regulations. 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 has not given His law to any other nation as He did Israel. This special revelation was a unique privilege calling for praise.

Overview

The psalm closes by marveling that no other nation received God's ordinances as Israel did. This sovereign choice was sheer grace meant to lead to worship—'Praise Yah!' Through Christ this saving knowledge is now extended to all nations (Matthew 28:19; Romans 15:9-12).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Deut 4:32–34Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported?
  • Deut 4:7–8For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
  • Eph 2:12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
  • 1 Pet 2:9–10But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
  • Rom 3:1–2What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
  • Eph 5:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
  • Acts 26:27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
  • Acts 14:16In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.
  • Isa 5:1–7I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
  • Acts 26:18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
  • Matt 21:33–41Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.
  • Prov 29:18Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the Law.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 147:20YouTube · 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 147:20 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.