Bible Strands
Psalms 136:5
By His insight He made the heavens. His loving devotion endures forever.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist leads a corporate worship assembly, alternating declarations of God's acts with a fixed responsive refrain.
The words — בִּתְבוּנָה (bi/t.vu.Nah) literally translates to "by understanding," specifying the cognitive precision applied to the formation of the heavens.
The thread — The text links divine wisdom to cosmic formation, echoing the creation accounts in Genesis 1:1 and the wisdom-focused declarations in Psalms 104:24 and Psalms 33:6.
Why it lands — The verse first establishes that the heavens were fashioned through deliberate insight, then requires the reader to acknowledge that this same purposeful intelligence sustains God's covenant loyalty without interruption.
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
To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Cross-references
- Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Psalms 104:24 How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
- Psalms 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.
- Jeremiah 51:15 The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
- Proverbs 3:19 The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.
- Proverbs 8:22 The LORD created me as His first course, before His works of old.
- Jeremiah 10:12 The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.