I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
Parallel translations
- KJV Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
- BSB I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
- NKJV Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.
- NASB “I will also make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.
- NLT I will make him my firstborn son, the mightiest king on earth.
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 will make the king His firstborn, the highest of all earthly kings.
Overview
"Firstborn" denotes preeminence and inheritance rights, not merely birth order. The Davidic king is given supremacy among the kings of the earth. The New Testament applies this directly to Christ, the firstborn over all creation and ruler of earth's kings (Col. 1:15; Rev. 1:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Col 1:15who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
- Col 1:18He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
- Rev 19:16He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
- Rom 8:29For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
- Ps 2:7I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.
- Ps 72:11Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
- Num 24:7Water shall flow from his buckets. His seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag. His kingdom shall be exalted.
- Exod 4:22You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘Yahweh says, Israel is my son, my firstborn,
- Ps 2:10–12Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
- Isa 49:7Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and rise up; princes, and they shall worship; because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
- 2 Chr 1:12therefore wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you had, and none after you will have.”
- 2 Chr 9:23–24All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
- Rev 21:24The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
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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 89:27 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.