Bible Strands
Exodus 15:18
The LORD will reign forever and ever!”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses and the Israelites speak this declaration immediately after crossing the Red Sea and witnessing the drowning of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen. It concludes their song following God’s deliverance and precedes the promise of planting them on the mountain of His inheritance.
The words — The verse hinges on יִמְלֹ֖ךְ (yim.Lokh), meaning "he will reign," coupled with לְעֹלָם וָעֶד (le.'olam va.'ed), literally "for/ever and ever." These terms function as a fixed temporal marker asserting unbroken duration.
The thread — The same eternal reign assertion appears in Psalms 10:16, Psalms 29:10, and Psalms 146:10. Each reference anchors Yahweh’s kingship to His established rule over creation and history.
Why it lands — The text states God’s permanent sovereignty as a completed reality rather than a future expectation. It requires the reader to recognize divine authority as an operative fact governing nations and history.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
Cross-references
- Psalms 10:16 The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations perish from His land.
- Psalms 29:10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
- Psalms 146:10 The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah!
- Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
- Daniel 2:44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.
- Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
- Daniel 4:3 How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation.
- Daniel 7:14 And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
- Daniel 7:27 Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’
- Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’