The Meaning of Psalms 78:43 Explained

Psalms 78:43

KJV: How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:

YLT: When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan,

Darby: How he set his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the field of Zoan;

ASV: How he set his signs in Egypt, And his wonders in the field of Zoan,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

How he had wrought  his signs  in Egypt,  and his wonders  in the field  of Zoan: 

What does Psalms 78:43 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 78:38-48 - "signs In Egypt"
God takes into account the frailty and infirmity of our natures. The Spirit"¦ helpeth our infirmities, Romans 8:26. In the words of Hosea, God teaches us "to go;" that is, He puts His hands under our armpits, that we may learn how to walk. In the process there are many failures, but He distinguishes between the willful breach of His commands, and the blunders that are due to the frailty of our natures. Being full of compassion, He forgives; He remembers that we are but flesh.
Let us not limit the Holy One, Psalms 78:41. He waits to do marvelous things for us and by us; but how often we confine His power within the narrow channel of our own little faith. We do not like to trouble Him too often. We say in effect that as He has done this, we can hardly expect Him to do the other. We bring a limited number of vessels to be filled with the sacred oil. We strike but three times on the ground, and not until the seventh time of perfection. He cannot do many mighty things for us because our unbelief. Let us quicken our souls to larger thoughts of God, by recounting, as in this paragraph, His wonders of old. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 78

1  An exhortation both to learn and to preach, the law of God
9  The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient
67  The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David

What do the individual words in Psalms 78:43 mean?

When He worked in Egypt His signs and His wonders in the field of Zoan
אֲשֶׁר־ שָׂ֣ם בְּ֭מִצְרַיִם אֹֽתוֹתָ֑יו וּ֝מוֹפְתָ֗יו בִּשְׂדֵה־ צֹֽעַן

שָׂ֣ם  He  worked 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
בְּ֭מִצְרַיִם  in  Egypt 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְרַיִם  
Sense: a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows adj Egyptians = “double straits”.
אֹֽתוֹתָ֑יו  His  signs 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אֹות  
Sense: sign, signal.
וּ֝מוֹפְתָ֗יו  and  His  wonders 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: מֹופֵת  
Sense: wonder, sign, miracle, portent.
בִּשְׂדֵה־  in  the  field 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שָׂדֶה 
Sense: field, land.
צֹֽעַן  of  Zoan 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: צֹעַן  
Sense: an ancient city of lower Egypt called Tanis by the Greeks; located on the eastern bank of the Tanitic branch of the Nile; the capital of the Shepherd dynasty, built 7 years after Hebron and existing before Abraham and the dwelling place of the Pharaoh at the time of the exodus.