Bible Strands
Psalms 81:5
He ordained it as a testimony for Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt, where I heard an unfamiliar language:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Israel while the God of Jacob pronounces a binding statute. This declaration marks the commemoration of Israel’s departure from Egypt and precedes the account of divine deliverance.
The words — עֵדוּת ('E.dut) translates literally to a testimony, and שְׂפַ֖ת (se.Fat) means a language. The text states God established this testimony for Joseph during the Exodus, where He heard an unfamiliar tongue.
The thread — The Exodus motif and encounter with a foreign tongue reappear in Psalms 114:1, which records Israel’s departure and the house of Jacob leaving a people of foreign speech. Deuteronomy 28:49 and Jeremiah 5:15 later use the distant nation and unfamiliar language as instruments of judgment rather than deliverance.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of God’s historical intervention as a formal decree for Israel. It requires the reader to treat the Exodus event as a binding ordinance to be remembered and obeyed.
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
This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 28:49 The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
- Psalms 114:1 When Israel departed from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
- Jeremiah 5:15 Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
- 1 Corinthians 14:21 It is written in the Law: “By strange tongues and foreign lips I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.”
- Exodus 11:4 So Moses declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,
- Exodus 13:8 And on that day you are to explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
- Psalms 77:15 With power You redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
- Isaiah 28:11 Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people
- Exodus 12:12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
- Exodus 12:27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.