Bible Strands
Psalms 46:10
“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses His own people in the immediate aftermath of His dismantling of warfare (v.9), before the affirmation of His presence as their fortress (v.11). The speaker is Yahweh; the audience is the covenant community.
The words — הַרְפּוּ (harpu), "be still," is a Hiphil imperative of רפָה, carrying the sense of releasing or letting go rather than mere silence. The repeated אָר֥וּם (arum), "I will be exalted," is the divine action that the stillness is meant to receive.
The thread — The "know that I am God" formula appears in Psalms 100:3 and Ezekiel 38:23, where divine self-revelation among nations triggers recognition. Habakkuk 2:20 pairs cosmic silence with God's presence in His temple, echoing the same posture of cessation before God.
Why it lands — It demands that the reader stop trying to secure their own safety and acknowledge that God alone determines the fate of nations. The command is not to feel peace but to release control and submit to a God who acts among the nations.
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
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Cross-references
- Psalms 100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Habakkuk 2:20 But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
- Ezekiel 38:23 I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
- Zechariah 2:13 Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
- Psalms 83:18 May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
- Psalms 57:5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; may Your glory cover all the earth.
- Isaiah 2:17 So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
- 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.
- Psalms 21:13 Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power.
- Isaiah 5:16 But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.