Psalms 134:1
Praise ye the name of the Lord: O you his servants, praise the Lord:
Open Psalms 134:1 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Alleluja. Laudate nomen Domini ; laudate, servi, Dominum :
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Ἁλληλουιά. Αἰνεῖτε τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου, αἰνεῖτε δοῦλοι Κύριον,
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 135:1
- הַ֥לְלוּ יָ֨הּ הַֽ֭לְלוּ אֶת שֵׁ֣ם יְהוָ֑ה הַֽ֝לְלוּ עַבְדֵ֥י יְהוָֽה
Haydock's commentary
Alleluia. The psalm turns on God's praises, and might be composed by David, after he had settled the order of the Levites, though it may suit all people. (Berthier)
The latter part agrees with Psalm cxiii., and Jeremias x., which might lead us to conclude that it was composed after the captivity, perhaps for the dedication of the second temple. The next psalm is a repetition of this, with the chorus interspersed. (Calmet)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm CXXXV
1. Very pleasant ought it be to us, and we should rejoice because it is pleasant, to which this Psalm exhorteth us. For it says, “Praise the name of the Lord” ( ver. 1 ). And it forthwith appends the reason, why it is just to praise the name of the Lord. “Praise the Lord, ye servants.” What more just? what more worthy? what more thankful?…For if He teaches His own servants who have deserved well of Him, the preachers of His Word, the rulers of His Church, the worshippers of His name, the obeyers of His command, that in their own conscience they should possess the sweetness of their life, lest they be corrupted by the praise or disheartened by the reproach of men; how much the more is He above all, the unchangeable One, who teacheth these things, neither the greater if thou praisest, or the less if thou reproachest.…For ye will do nothing out of place, by praising your Lord, as servants. …