Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Psalms 136:10 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 10. 10To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 136:10: Within “Creation and exodus answered by one enduring refrain: Exodus and wilderness deliverance,” the line “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn” supplies one distinct parallel claim, image, address, or response.
The refrain now follows blows and a path through water
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 136:10–16. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 136:10–16
- Psalms 136:1–26
Read Psalms 136:10 with 136:10–16 and 136:1–26. Read alone, “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn” could lose the communal voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 136:10–16, the communal voice carries the movement “Exodus and wilderness deliverance” as part of “Creation and exodus answered by one enduring refrain.” Its litany-thanksgiving form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 136:10–16 answers or redirects “Creation remembered through the refrain” within Psalm 136 by carrying “Exodus and wilderness deliverance.” The turn from “The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever” to “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever” explains why this movement occurs here. Within that relationship, Psalm 136:10 recalls named communal memory through “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn” as part of the psalm's selective theological retelling.
Follow the Context
- Identify the communal voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 136:10–16; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
- Within Psalms 136:10–16, the communal voice carries the movement “Exodus and wilderness deliverance” as part of “Creation and exodus answered by one enduring refrain.” Its litany-thanksgiving form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
- This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The repeated mercy refrain shapes communal memory; violent history must not be used to celebrate suffering or claim automatic national favor.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Psalms 136:10 does not allow “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn” to become an independent promise, command, accusation, doctrine, or authorization. This verse recalls named communal memory through “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn” as part of the psalm's selective theological retelling. The complete movement is “Exodus and wilderness deliverance.” This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The repeated mercy refrain shapes communal memory; violent history must not be used to celebrate suffering or claim automatic national favor.
What Remains True
Because this verse serves “Creation and exodus answered by one enduring refrain: Exodus and wilderness deliverance,” its enduring claim is proportionate: Creation's order, dependence, danger, abundance, and praise place human life inside accountable creaturely limits rather than at the center of everything. Psalm 136:10 recalls named communal memory through “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn” as part of the psalm's selective theological retelling. The local movement is “Exodus and wilderness deliverance.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The repeated mercy refrain shapes communal memory; violent history must not be used to celebrate suffering or claim automatic national favor.
How It Can Shape Life
- The practice should match “Creation and exodus answered by one enduring refrain: Exodus and wilderness deliverance” rather than an isolated slogan. Psalm 136:10 recalls named communal memory through “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn” as part of the psalm's selective theological retelling. Therefore, Attend to the creaturely image in “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn”, receive its limit or gift, and choose one act of care that does not treat creation as disposable.
Teach It Back
Build a short teaching of Psalm 136:10: quote “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn,” summarize “Creation and exodus answered by one enduring refrain: Exodus and wilderness deliverance,” show the line's role, cite the checked context, preserve one alternative, derive a safe practice, and make this negation explicit: This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The repeated mercy refrain shapes communal memory; violent history must not be used to celebrate suffering or claim automatic national favor.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 136:10–16 — Creation and exodus answered by one enduring refrain: Exodus and wilderness deliveranceSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 136:10–16, 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 136:10–16
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 136:10–16.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 136 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 136:10–16
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 136:10–16
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 136 for Psalms 136:10–16
Open NETS Psalms ↗