Psalms / Chapter 100

Psalms 100

5 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Psalm 100 is a brief, radiant hymn of praise — only five verses — designated as a 'psalm for the thanksgiving offering' (mizmor le-todah). It summons all the earth to worship the LORD with joy, know that he is God, enter his gates with thanksgiving, and bless his name, because the LORD is good, his faithful love endures forever, and his faithfulness extends to every generation.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

This psalm is the culmination and crown of the enthronement psalm sequence (93-100). After all the thunder of theophany, the crashing of chaotic waters, the melting of mountains, the warnings about hardened hearts, and the triple invocation of holiness — the sequence ends here, with five verses of unqualified, uncomplicated joy. There are no enemies in this psalm. No lament, no petition, no warning, no theological tension. Only command after command to rejoice, to know, to enter, to thank. The central declaration — de'u ki YHWH hu Elohim, hu asanu ve-lo anachnu, ammo ve-tson mar'ito ('Know that the LORD is God; he made us and we are his, his people and the flock of his pasture') — is one of the most compact creedal statements in the Hebrew Bible. It asserts God's identity, his creatorship, his ownership, and his pastoral care in a single breath.

Translation Friction

Verse 3 contains a famous textual variant: the ketiv (written text) reads ve-lo anachnu ('and not we ourselves,' meaning 'he made us, and not we ourselves') while the qere (read text) reads ve-lo anachnu ('and we are his,' with lo spelled as 'to him' rather than 'not'). Both readings are theologically meaningful. The ketiv denies human self-creation: God made us, not we ourselves. The qere affirms divine ownership: he made us and we belong to him. The qere reading is more widely followed and is reflected in our rendering, but the ketiv's denial of autonomous self-creation is equally powerful.

Connections

The psalm for the todah ('thanksgiving offering') connects to the todah sacrifice prescribed in Leviticus 7:12-15 — a fellowship offering accompanied by bread and presented with songs of praise. The call to 'all the earth' (kol ha-arets, v. 1) echoes Psalms 96:1 and 98:4. The shepherd imagery (tson mar'ito, 'the flock of his pasture') echoes Psalm 95:7 and Psalm 23. The concluding triad — tov YHWH, le-olam chasdo, ve-ad dor va-dor emunato ('the LORD is good, his faithful love endures forever, and his faithfulness to every generation') — is the liturgical formula that appears in 1 Chronicles 16:34, 2 Chronicles 5:13, 7:3, Ezra 3:11, and Psalm 136:1. It may be the oldest and most frequently repeated confession in Israelite worship.

Psalms 100:1

מִזְמ֥וֹר לְתוֹדָ֑ה הָרִ֥יעוּ לַ֝יהוָ֗ה כׇּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

A psalm for the thanksgiving offering. Shout to the LORD, all the earth!

KJV A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The superscription mizmor le-todah ('a psalm for the thanksgiving offering') links this psalm to the sacrificial system. The todah was a specific category of peace offering (Leviticus 7:12-15) presented after deliverance from danger — illness, enemies, mortal threat. It was always accompanied by communal celebration and praise. The imperative hari'u ('shout!') with kol ha-arets ('all the earth') universalizes the thanksgiving: what began as one person's gratitude for deliverance becomes the whole world's response to God.
Psalms 100:2

עִבְד֣וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה בְּשִׂמְחָ֑ה בֹּ֥אוּ לְ֝פָנָ֗יו בִּרְנָנָֽה׃

Serve the LORD with gladness! Come before him with joyful singing!

KJV Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb ivdu ('serve!') is the same verb used for Israel's slavery in Egypt (Exodus 1:13) — the exodus did not free Israel from service but transferred their service from Pharaoh to God. But this service is be-simchah ('with gladness') — not coerced labor but joyful devotion. The verb bo'u ('come!') with lefanav ('before his face') invites the worshipers into God's presence, and birnana ('with joyful singing, with ringing cries') describes how they arrive. The entire verse insists that the worship of God is characterized by delight, not dread.
Psalms 100:3

דְּע֗וּ כִּֽי־יְהוָה֮ ה֤וּא אֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים הֽוּא־עָ֭שָׂנוּ וְל֣וֹ אֲנַ֑חְנוּ עַ֝מּ֗וֹ וְצֹ֣אן מַרְעִיתֽוֹ׃

Know that the LORD — he is God! He made us, and we are his — his people and the flock of his pasture.

KJV Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

דְּעוּ de'u
"know" — to know, to recognize, to acknowledge, to perceive, to experience

yada ('to know') in Hebrew is never merely cognitive. It implies direct encounter, personal experience, and relational intimacy. When the psalm commands 'Know that the LORD is God,' it demands not a theological opinion but a life-reorienting recognition — the kind of knowing that changes how one lives.

Translator Notes

  1. The ketiv/qere variant in this verse is one of the most discussed in the Hebrew Bible. The ketiv (ve-lo anachnu, 'and not we ourselves') denies human self-sufficiency: we did not make ourselves. The qere (ve-lo anachnu, 'and we are his') affirms divine possession: we belong to God. Both readings are ancient, both are theologically sound, and both are preserved in the Masoretic tradition. We follow the qere because the flow of the verse moves from creation to possession to pastoral care.
Psalms 100:4

בֹּ֤אוּ שְׁעָרָ֨יו ׀ בְּתוֹדָ֗ה חֲצֵרֹתָ֥יו בִּתְהִלָּ֑ה הֽוֹדוּ־ל֝֗וֹ בָּרְכ֥וּ שְׁמֽוֹ׃

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

KJV Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The she'arim ('gates') and chatserot ('courts') are the physical spaces of the Jerusalem temple. The outer gates led to the courtyards where worshipers gathered. The todah and tehillah that the worshipers bring are both verbal offerings — words of gratitude and words of praise. In the todah sacrifice, the verbal thanksgiving accompanied the physical offering, but the psalm envisions the words themselves as the primary gift.
Psalms 100:5

כִּי־ט֣וֹב יְ֭הוָה לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּ֑וֹ וְעַד־דֹּ֥ר וָ֝דֹ֗ר אֱמוּנָתֽוֹ׃

For the LORD is good; his faithful love endures forever, and his faithfulness to every generation.

KJV For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

טוֹב tov
"good" — good, pleasant, beautiful, agreeable, beneficial, right, moral

tov is the most fundamental positive evaluation in Hebrew — it is the word God uses to assess creation (Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31). When applied to God himself, it means that God possesses in his own nature the quality he recognizes in his work. The LORD is not merely the source of good — he is good.

חֶסֶד chesed
"faithful love" — loyal love, steadfast love, lovingkindness, covenant faithfulness, mercy, devotion

chesed in this verse carries the weight of the entire Psalter's theology. It is the attribute most frequently celebrated in the psalms, the quality God most often claims for himself, and the foundation of the covenant relationship. When the psalm says le-olam chasdo ('his faithful love is forever'), it makes the boldest possible claim about the durability of God's commitment to his people.

Translator Notes

  1. The formula ki tov ki le-olam chasdo ('for he is good, for his faithful love endures forever') appears as a liturgical refrain in 2 Chronicles 5:13, 7:3, 20:21, Ezra 3:11, and throughout Psalm 136. It may be the oldest continuous liturgical formula in Jewish worship, predating any written psalm and perhaps going back to the earliest temple worship. When the returned exiles laid the foundation of the second temple, they wept and shouted this formula (Ezra 3:11) — it was the first thing sung when worship resumed.
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