He has not done this for just any nation. They don’t know his ordinances. Praise Yah!
Parallel translations
- KJV He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
- BSB He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!
- 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 4:32–34For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?
- Deut 4:7–8For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?
- Eph 2:12that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
- 1 Pet 2:9–10But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
- Rom 3:1–2Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?
- Eph 5:8For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- Acts 26:27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
- Acts 14:16who in the generations gone by allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.
- Isa 5:1–7Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
- Acts 26:18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
- Matt 21:33–41“Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country.
- Prov 29:18Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but one who keeps the law is blessed.
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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.