Psalms 135:1–21, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Psalms 135:1–21
Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings
Within Psalms 135:1–21, the communal voice carries the movement “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings” as part of “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings.” Its hymn form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why this sits here
Psalms 135:1–21 opens Psalm 135 with “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the…” and establishes the communal voice and “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings” movement before later lines develop or answer it.
What helps us understand it
How this passage works
Psalms 135:1–21Psalms 135:1–21 is the complete poetic movement “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings”; its communal voice, parallel lines, images, and rhetorical turn control any use of an individual verse.
The unit opens “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the…” and closes “Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.”
Place in the book
Psalms as a wholePsalms 135:1–21 belongs to Book V. Thanksgiving, Torah, pilgrimage, Davidic prayer, and universal praise bring the Psalter from gathered distress toward a many-voiced hallelujah. This unit contributes the movement “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings” within Psalm 135.
The received sequence places Psalms 135:1–21 inside Psalms 107–150; this unit opens “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the…” and closes “Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.” The unit's reviewed main point is: Within Psalms 135:1–21, the communal voice carries the movement “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings” as part of “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings.” Its hymn form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Psalms 135:1–21 opens with “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the…” and closes with “Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.” Those endpoints show how the communal voice carries “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings.”
How the passage moves
Identify the communal voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 135:1–21; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
Exodus and conquest memories must not become antisemitic caricature, religious contempt, or modern conquest ideology.
What remains true
Praise remembers concrete divine character and action, gathers many voices, and remains honest about grief rather than demanding one emotional performance.
How this should shape us
What response preserves the text's voice and the neighbor's safety?
The practice should match “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings” rather than an isolated slogan. The opening line begins the movement “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings.” Therefore, Answer “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD” by naming one concrete gift or act of mercy, sharing gratitude without requiring a grieving person to match your mood.
Teach it back
Explain Psalms 135:1–21 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 135 and Book V, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Voice, image, and parallel movement
Within Psalms 135:1–21, the communal voice carries the movement “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings” as part of “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings.” Its hymn form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied. The opening clause “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD” belongs to this complete movement.
Placement in Book V
Psalms 135:1–21 opens Psalm 135 with “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the…” and establishes the communal voice and “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings” movement before later lines develop or answer it.
Uncertainty and responsible limit
Exodus and conquest memories must not become antisemitic caricature, religious contempt, or modern conquest ideology.
What the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
Recoverable setting and limits
Psalms 135:1–21 belongs to Israel's received Psalter and Book V. Its hymn form may preserve individual, communal, royal, sanctuary, wisdom, historical, or later liturgical voices. A heading or vivid scene can guide reception without proving one author, date, event, performance setting, or editorial stage.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
The psalm within Jewish Scripture and worship
Psalms 135:1–21 belongs first to the Jewish Psalter's Hebrew poetry, five-book arrangement, prayer, instruction, memory, and worship. Jewish use and interpretation are not a preliminary stage to be erased by later Christian reception.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Canonical relationships after the first horizon
praise, history, nations, worship connect this movement with other psalms and wider biblical traditions only after Psalms 135:1–21's own voice and poetic work are established. Similar wording does not make every speaker, enemy, city, nation, king, or promise identical.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
Psalms 135:1–21 gives communal prayer and poetry a real place before the LORD while the five-book Psalter holds lament, praise, Torah, kingship, Zion, creation, history, and communal memory in conversation.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
Praise remembers concrete divine character and action, gathers many voices, and remains honest about grief rather than demanding one emotional performance.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
Exodus and conquest memories must not become antisemitic caricature, religious contempt, or modern conquest ideology.
A vivid line from Psalm 135 can be detached from poetic parallelism, voice, genre, the whole psalm, Book V, and later reception history.
Within Psalms 135:1–21, the communal voice carries the movement “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings” as part of “Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings.” Its hymn form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Praise remembers concrete divine character and action, gathers many voices, and remains honest about grief rather than demanding one emotional performance.
Praise the sovereign LORD above idols and kings remains meaningful without the rejected overreach.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Psalms 135:1–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 135:1–21
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 135:1–21.
Official NET Bible Psalm 135 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 135:1–21
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 135:1–21
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 135 for Psalms 135:1–21
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 135:1–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 135:1–21
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 135:1–21.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 135 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 135:1–21
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 135:1–21
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 135 for Psalms 135:1–21
Open NETS Psalms ↗