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From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
Psalms 50:2 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines out.
  • KJV Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
  • NKJV Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.
  • NASB Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone.
  • NLT From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance.

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

From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth in glory. His presence radiates from the place He has chosen.

Overview

God appears in splendor from Zion, called 'the perfection of beauty' because it is where He dwells among His people. The shining imagery recalls the glory that filled the tabernacle and temple. Ultimately God's glory shines most fully in Christ and in the heavenly Zion, the city of the living God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Ps 48:2Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
  • Rev 21:23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
  • Ps 80:1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
  • Rev 1:16He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
  • Hab 3:3–4God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth.
  • Deut 33:2He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.
  • Lam 2:15All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
  • Hab 2:20But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
  • Hos 5:15Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
  • Song 5:16His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
  • Isa 12:6Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”
  • Ps 94:1O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth.
  • Ps 87:2–3The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
  • Isa 26:21For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
  • Ps 68:24They have seen Your procession, O God—the march of my God and King into the sanctuary.
  • Heb 12:22–26Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels
  • Ps 80:17Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.
  • Zech 9:17How lovely they will be, and how beautiful! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the young women.

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 50:2YouTube · 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 50:2 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.