Psalms / Chapter 67

Psalms 67

8 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Psalm 67 is a compact, symmetrical hymn asking God to bless Israel so that God's way and saving power become known among all nations. Built around a repeated refrain calling on the peoples to praise God, the psalm envisions a world where every nation acknowledges God's just governance and celebrates the earth's abundance. It opens with the priestly blessing of Numbers 6 and closes with the expectation that God's blessing will cause all the ends of the earth to revere him.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

This psalm is one of the clearest missionary texts in the Hebrew Bible. Israel's blessing is not an end in itself but a means — 'so that your way may be known on earth, your deliverance among all nations.' The concentric structure is precise: A (blessing, verse 2), B (nations know God, verse 3), C (refrain: peoples praise, verse 4), D (center: God judges with equity, verse 5), C' (refrain: peoples praise, verse 6), B' (earth yields, verse 7a), A' (God blesses, ends of earth revere, verses 7b-8). The architecture mirrors the theology: God's blessing radiates outward from Israel to reach the edges of the world.

Translation Friction

The superscription assigns this to the director of music with stringed instruments (neginot) but gives no author. The opening line echoes the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) closely enough that the psalm may have been composed as a liturgical expansion of that priestly prayer. Whether the harvest imagery (verse 7, 'the earth has yielded its produce') indicates a specific harvest festival or is metaphorical for God's general blessing is debated. The seven-verse structure has been noted — seven being the number of completeness — giving the psalm a sense of wholeness.

Connections

The priestly blessing connection to Numbers 6:24-26 is foundational. The vision of all nations knowing God's way connects to Abraham's call ('in you all families of the earth shall be blessed,' Genesis 12:3) and to the prophetic hope in Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-3. Paul quotes the principle of God's blessing extending to the nations in Galatians 3:8. The psalm's theology stands behind the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) — God's people are blessed in order to be a blessing.

Psalms 67:1

לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ בִּנְגִינֹ֗ת מִזְמ֥וֹר שִֽׁיר׃

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

KJV To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The double designation mizmor shir ('psalm, song') with neginot ('stringed instruments') indicates a musically accompanied liturgical piece.
Psalms 67:2

אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְחׇנֵּ֥נוּ וִיבָרְכֵ֑נוּ יָ֤אֵ֥ר פָּנָ֖יו אִתָּ֣נוּ סֶֽלָה׃

May God be gracious to us and bless us; may he make his face shine on us. Selah.

KJV God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verbs yechonnenu ('may he be gracious to us'), vivarkhenu ('may he bless us'), and ya'er ('may he cause to shine') mirror the Aaronic benediction closely. Selah marks a musical pause after this foundational prayer.
Psalms 67:3

לָדַ֣עַת בָּאָ֣רֶץ דַּרְכֶּ֑ךָ בְּכׇל־גּ֝וֹיִ֗ם יְשׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃

so that your way may be known on earth, your deliverance among all nations.

KJV That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The infinitive la-da'at ('so that it may be known') reveals the purpose of the blessing requested in verse 2. God's 'way' (darkhekha) and 'deliverance' (yeshuatekha) are to become public knowledge among kol goyim ('all nations'). Israel is blessed for the sake of the world's knowledge of God.
Psalms 67:4

יוֹד֖וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים ׀ אֱלֹהִ֑ים י֝וֹד֗וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים כֻּלָּֽם׃

Let the peoples thank you, God; let all the peoples thank you.

KJV O let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The refrain yodukha ammim ('let the peoples thank/praise you') appears here and in verse 6, framing the psalm's center. The word ammim ('peoples') is plural — this is not Israel alone but the family of nations. The repetition of kullam ('all of them') leaves no people group excluded.
Psalms 67:5

יִֽשְׂמְח֥וּ וִירַנְּנ֗וּ לְאֻ֫מִּ֥ים כִּֽי־תִשְׁפֹּ֣ט עַמִּ֣ים מִישׁ֑וֹר וּלְאֻמִּ֓ים ׀ בָּאָ֖רֶץ תַּנְחֵ֣ם סֶֽלָה׃

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations on earth. Selah.

KJV O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

מִישׁוֹר mishor
"equity" — straightness, level ground, equity, fairness, uprightness

This term describes the character of God's judgment: it is straight, level, and fair — the very quality that makes divine rule something to celebrate rather than dread.

Translator Notes

  1. The word mishor ('equity, level ground, fairness') describes judgment that is straight and even — no favoritism, no corruption, no arbitrary power. The verb tanchem ('you guide them') uses the same root as nachah ('to lead, to guide'), evoking pastoral care alongside judicial authority.
Psalms 67:6

יוֹד֖וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים ׀ אֱלֹהִ֑ים י֝וֹד֗וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים כֻּלָּֽם׃

Let the peoples thank you, God; let all the peoples thank you.

KJV Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The refrain repeats identically from verse 4, creating the psalm's structural frame. The repetition is not redundancy but emphasis — the call for universal praise brackets the central declaration of God's just rule.
Psalms 67:7

אֶ֗רֶץ נָתְנָ֥ה יְבוּלָ֑הּ יְ֝בָרְכֵ֗נוּ אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃

The earth has yielded its produce; God — our God — blesses us.

KJV Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase erets natnah yevulah ('the earth has given its produce') grounds the psalm's theology in material reality — God's blessing is not abstract but takes the form of food from the ground. The double identification Elohim Elohenu ('God, our God') is emphatic and possessive — the God who governs the nations is also our own God.
Psalms 67:8

יְבָרְכֵ֥נוּ אֱלֹהִ֑ים וְיִֽירְא֥וּ א֝וֹת֗וֹ כׇּל־אַפְסֵי־אָֽרֶץ׃

God blesses us, and all the ends of the earth revere him.

KJV God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The psalm closes by completing the circle: God's blessing of Israel (yevarkhenu) results in universal reverence (ve-yir'u oto kol afsey arets). The 'ends of the earth' (afsey arets) represent the most remote populations — God's blessing of one people reaches the farthest margins of the world. The verb yir'u ('they revere, they fear') describes not terror but awe-filled recognition of who God is.
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