Passage

Psalms 96.2

Book: Psalms · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Oh sing unto Jehovah a new song: Sing unto Jehovah, all the earth."

"2. Sing unto Jehovah, bless his name; Show forth his salvation from day to day."

"3. Declare his glory among the nations, His marvellous works among all the peoples. 4. For great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods." (Psalms 96:1-4, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Sing to Yahweh a new song! Sing to Yahweh, all the earth."

"2. Sing to Yahweh! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day!"

"3. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. 4. For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods." (Psalms 96:1-4, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth."

"2. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day."

"3. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 4. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods." (Psalms 96:1-4, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Sing to Jehovah a new song, Sing to Jehovah all the earth."

"2. Sing to Jehovah, bless His name, Proclaim from day to day His salvation."

"3. Declare among nations His honour, Among all the peoples His wonders. 4. For great [is] Jehovah, and praised greatly, Fearful He [is] over all gods." (Psalms 96:1-4, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: anonymous psalmist; the psalm is paralleled in 1 Chr 16:23-33 as Davidic praise at the ark's installation
Audience: Israel + the nations (universal scope)
Location: Jerusalem temple liturgical tradition
Time period: Davidic (per 1 Chr 16 placement) or post-exilic compilation

Theological reading

Psalm 96:2 deploys basar in the universalizing-evangelistic register: bassru mi-yom le-yom yeshuato, "proclaim his salvation from day to day." The verb is a Piel imperative, commanding ongoing, day-after-day announcement of God's yeshuah (salvation). Verse 3 extends the scope: declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous works among all the peoples. The pair of verses anticipates the universal-mission character of the NT euangelion: the basar-announcement of YHWH's salvation is to spread to all peoples (v. 3) and every day (v. 2). The psalm is one of the OT's clearest pre-figurations of the great-commission scope, the OT root of Mt 28:19-20's "all nations" mandate. The parallel placement in 1 Chr 16:23 makes the verse part of the Davidic ark-installation liturgy, grounding the universal mission in the worship of Israel.

Key words

H1319 - basar, basar, bassru, the Piel imperative "proclaim glad tidings"
H3467 - yasha / H3444 - yeshuah, yeshuah, salvation

Quoted in

H1319 - basar

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.