Bible Strands
Psalms 23:2
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David speaks of the LORD as his shepherd, in a moment of provision bracketed by "I shall not want" (v. 1) and "He restores my soul" (v. 3).
The words — מְנֻחוֹת (me.nu.Chot) is a noun meaning "resting places," not an adjective meaning "quiet"; the BSB's "quiet waters" softens what the Hebrew states as waters that are themselves a place of rest.
The thread — Revelation 7:17 and 22:1 reprise the shepherd leading to living water; Ezekiel 34:13 echoes the gathering and feeding of the scattered flock.
Why it lands — The Hiphil stem in יַרְבִּיצֵנִי ("he makes me lie down") marks rest as something done to the speaker, not something the speaker achieves; the verse asks the reader to accept being led rather than to prove they deserve the pasture.
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
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Cross-references
- Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
- Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
- Ezekiel 34:13 I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land.
- Psalms 46:4 There is a river whose streams delight the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
- Revelation 21:6 And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.
- Isaiah 49:9 to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.
- Isaiah 30:23 Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.
- Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.
- Job 34:29 But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,
- Isaiah 8:6 “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah,