The Meaning of Psalms 147:5 Explained

Psalms 147:5

KJV: Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

YLT: Great is our Lord, and abundant in power, Of His understanding there is no narration.

Darby: Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

ASV: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Great  [is] our Lord,  and of great  power:  his understanding  [is] infinite. 

What does Psalms 147:5 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 147:1-11 - Why We Praise The Lord
It has been supposed that this psalm was prepared for use when the new walls of the city were completed in the days of Nehemiah. It contains a further enumeration of God's present tenses. The psalmist never tires of celebrating the immediateness of God. He will not tolerate the intervention of second causes, which are the artifice of scientific explanation. Laws are, after all, only the convenient statement of the regularity of God's methods. The couplets of this psalm are amazingly suggestive. By contrast they complete each other. God builds up the great city of Jerusalem, but His heart goes out to the individual prodigal. He is equally at home in the hospital where broken hearts congregate, and among the stars, which He names and counts as a shepherd His flock. He upholds the meek and overthrows the proud. Spring, with its clouds and rain and sprouting grass, is His work; but so also the wild life of the forest, with its beasts and birds. He has no such delight in athletic strength or speed as He has in the reverent worship of His people. There is a perfect balance and rhythm in God's nature. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 147

1  The prophet exhorts to praise God for his care of the church
4  His power and wisdom
6  His mercy
7  His providence
12  To praise him for his blessings upon the kingdom
15  For his power over the elements
19  And for his ordinances in the church

What do the individual words in Psalms 147:5 mean?

Great [is] our Lord and mighty in power His understanding [is] infinite infinite
גָּד֣וֹל אֲדוֹנֵ֣ינוּ וְרַב־ כֹּ֑חַ לִ֝תְבוּנָת֗וֹ אֵ֣ין מִסְפָּֽר

גָּד֣וֹל  Great  [is] 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
אֲדוֹנֵ֣ינוּ  our  Lord 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: אָדֹון  
Sense: firm, strong, lord, master.
וְרַב־  and  mighty 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular construct
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
כֹּ֑חַ  in  power 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֹּחַ 
Sense: strength, power, might.
לִ֝תְבוּנָת֗וֹ  His  understanding  [is] 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: תְּבוּנָה 
Sense: understanding, intelligence.
אֵ֣ין  infinite 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
מִסְפָּֽר  infinite 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִסְפָּר  
Sense: number, tale.