Bible Strands
Psalms 9:8
He judges the world with justice; He governs the people with equity.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David declares Yahweh’s established throne for judgment, positioning God’s impartial rule immediately after noting His eternal reign and before describing Him as a refuge for the oppressed.
The words — The Hebrew terms שׁפט (shaphat) and דין (din) both denote judicial ruling, while צדק (tsedaq) and מישורים (misharim) specify the legal righteousness and uprightness applied to those verdicts.
The thread — The motif of divine judgment executed with righteousness and equity runs through Psalms 96:13 and Psalms 98:9, whereas Revelation 20:12 presents a distinct eschatological scene where judgment proceeds from opened books recording individual deeds.
Why it lands — The text states God judges the world and nations with justice and equity, requiring the reader to accept that divine authority operates on fixed standards rather than arbitrary preference.
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
And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
Cross-references
- Psalms 96:13 before the LORD, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
- Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
- Psalms 98:9 before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
- Acts 17:31 For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
- Romans 2:5 But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Romans 2:16 on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
- Genesis 18:25 Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
- Psalms 50:6 And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah
- Psalms 94:15 Surely judgment will again be righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
- Psalms 99:4 The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.