Psalms 113:1

Study note

Setting — An opening call, likely liturgical, addressed to "servants of the LORD" as the first verse of the Hallel (Psalms 113–118). The speaker is a leader or the assembly issuing a command to those already identified as belonging to Yahweh.

The words — עַבְדֵי ('av.Dei), "servants," is the same term used for Israel as God's covenant people throughout the Old Testament; it marks the addressees not as a general audience but as those already in a relationship of belonging. The imperative הַלְלוּ (Ha.lu) appears three times in the verse, each time paired with a different object or agent, driving the call forward.

The thread — Psalms 135:1 is nearly verbatim, and Psalms 135:20 widens the circle to the house of Levi and all who fear the LORD. Ephesians 5:19 picks up the same impulse in the New Testament: singing and making music to the Lord within the community.

Why it lands — The verse is a command directed at people who already belong to God; it does not invite but instructs. Praise here is framed as the obligation of a servant, not the option of a spectator.

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.