God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
Parallel translations
- WEB God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne.
- BSB God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne.
- NKJV God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.
- NASB God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne.
- NLT God reigns above the nations, sitting on his holy throne.
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 reigns over the nations, seated on His holy throne. It matters because God's sovereign rule over all peoples is certain and established.
Overview
The verse affirms God's present reign over all nations from His holy throne. His kingship is not merely future hope but settled reality. In Christ this rule is made visible, for the ascended Lord is enthroned in heaven, reigning until every nation acknowledges Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Chr 16:31Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth.
- Rev 19:6And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
- Ps 45:6–7Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
- Ps 93:1The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
- Ps 96:10Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
- Ps 22:27–29All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
- Ps 110:6He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
- Ps 89:14Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
- Rev 20:11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
- Ps 99:1The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
- Ps 9:4For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
- Ps 97:1The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
- Ps 48:1Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
- Ps 94:20Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
- Heb 4:16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 47:8 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.