Bible Strands
Psalms 50:10
for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel through the psalmist during a sacrificial assembly, directly responding to their ritual practices. He declares that He requires no livestock from their pens because He already possesses all wild and domesticated animals.
The words — כָּל־חַיְתוֹ יָעַר (kol-chayto ya'ar) renders literally as "every beast of the forest," while בְּהֵמֹת הַרְרֵי אֶלֶף (behemot harrei elef) translates to "cattle on a thousand hills." These phrases use expansive geographical markers to emphasize total, unbounded possession.
The thread — The assertion of divine ownership over animals and land runs parallel to Jeremiah 27:5, which states God made the earth and gives it to whom He wills. Psalm 104:14 similarly notes God provides for livestock, reinforcing His sustained control over the natural world.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that worship cannot function as a transaction when the Creator already owns everything. It asks the reader to abandon the presumption of influencing God through ritual offerings and instead acknowledge His absolute sovereignty.
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
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 27:5 By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
- Psalms 8:6 You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet:
- Psalms 104:14 He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from 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.
- Daniel 2:38 Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
- Genesis 1:24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
- Genesis 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
- 1 Chronicles 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.
- Jonah 4:11 So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
- Genesis 8:17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”