Bible Strands
Psalms 24:1
A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David, no named audience; a declaration of Yahweh's ownership over all creation, immediately grounded in the next verse by the act of founding the earth on the seas.
The words — The lamed (ל) before Yahweh is a dative of possession: "to Yahweh is the earth," not "Yahweh owns the earth" — the thing is assigned to the person. מְלוֹאָהּ (me.lo.'A/h) is literally "what fills it," a concrete noun for the earth's contents rather than an abstract "fullness."
The thread — The same phrase appears in 1 Corinthians 10:26 and echoes in Psalms 89:11 and 1 Chronicles 29:11, where Yahweh's ownership is paired with the act of founding or with a list of attributes (greatness, power, glory).
Why it lands — The verse assigns every person and every thing to Yahweh by a single preposition, leaving no category of creation outside His claim. A reader must reckon that their own dwelling, labor, and body fall under that same "to."
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
A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Cross-references
- Psalms 89:11 The heavens are Yours, and also the earth. The earth and its fullness You founded.
- 1 Corinthians 10:26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
- 1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.
- Job 41:11 Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
- Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
- Exodus 9:29 Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.
- Exodus 19:5 Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Psalms 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
- Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
- Daniel 4:25 You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.