Passage Research
Psalm 136 — Sermon Preparation
The Great Hallel, in which every verse is answered by the refrain 'his steadfast love endures forever' as creation, Exodus, and conquest are recounted. Below is a research summary for Psalm 136, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 26
- verses
- 166 / 66
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 7
- classic sermon excerpts
- 4
- preachers & commentators
Psalm 136 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חֶסֶד | cheçed | H2617 | 26 | kindness, piety |
| עוֹלָם | ʻôwlâm | H5769 | 26 | concealed, vanishing |
| יָדָה | yâdâh | H3034 | 4 | throw, revere |
| מֶמְשָׁלָה | memshâlâh | H4475 | 2 | rule, realm |
| גָּדוֹל | gâdôwl | H1419 | 3 | great, older |
| סוּף | çûwph | H5488 | 2 | reed, papyrus |
| נַחֲלָה | nachălâh | H5159 | 2 | inherited, occupancy |
How preachers through history handled this text
7 public-domain excerpts on Psalm 136, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“The scope of this psalm is the same with that of the foregoing psalm, but there is something very singular in the composition of it; for the latter half of each verse is the same, repeated throughout the psalm, "for his mercy endureth for ever," and yet no vain repetition. It is allowed that such burdens, or "keepings," as we call them, add very much to the beauty of a song, and help to make it moving and affecting; nor can any verse contain more weighty matter, or more worthy to be thus repeated, than this, that God's mercy endureth for ever; …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 3 (Job to Song of Solomon), on Psalm 136:1–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Egypt— Ps 136:10
- Red Sea 1— Ps 136:13
- Bashan— Ps 136:20
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