The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh is great in Zion. He is high above all the peoples.
- BSB Great is the LORD in Zion; He is exalted above all the peoples.
- NKJV The Lord is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples.
- NASB The Lord is great in Zion, And He is exalted above all the peoples.
- NLT The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem, exalted above all the nations.
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
The LORD is great in Zion and exalted over all peoples. His greatness is known where He dwells and extends to all nations.
Overview
God's greatness is centered in Zion, His chosen dwelling among His people, yet it rises above every nation. This balances God's nearness to His covenant people with His supremacy over the whole world. In Christ, God's presence and rule extend from a particular people to all the nations who trust in Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 97:9For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.
- Isa 14:32What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
- Isa 12:6Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
- Dan 4:34–35And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
- Jas 4:6–7But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
- Ps 66:7He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.
- Heb 12:22–24But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
- Ps 48:1–3Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
- Ps 76:1–2In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.
- Ps 113:4The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
- Ps 50:2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
- Rev 14:1–5And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 99:2 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.