Psalm 111:10

Context

Psalm 111 is a hymn of praise that opens with "Praise ye the LORD" (Hallelujah). It extols the works of God and his faithfulness to his covenant. In the Hebrew original it is an acrostic psalm, in which the first letters of successive lines follow the order of the alphabet; Psalm 112, which immediately follows, uses the same form. Verses 1–9 celebrate God's works, his "precepts" (v. 7), and the redemption and covenant he has provided for his people. Verse 10 concludes the psalm as a whole, summing up its praise as a teaching about wisdom. Because Psalm 112 opens by celebrating the blessedness of "the man that feareth the LORD," this verse is also read as a link between the two psalms.

Interpretation

• Reading in connection with wisdom literature: Old Testament scholars regard this verse as belonging to the same wisdom tradition as Proverbs and Job. Here "fear" means not terror but reverent awe and trust before God. The Hebrew word reshit, rendered "beginning," can mean both "starting point" and "chief part." Accordingly, some readings take the fear of the LORD as the point at which wisdom begins, while others take it as the very heart of wisdom.
• Reading that connects worship and obedience: Noting that the verse concludes a hymn of praise, this reading holds that reverent fear arises from remembering and praising God's works, and that such fear leads in turn to obedience to his commandments.
• Emphasis in the Reformed tradition: In the Reformed tradition, the verse is often explained in connection with the theological theme that true knowledge begins with the knowledge of God.

Questions of Application

The verse is not the subject of any marked controversy among denominations. Several questions, however, are commonly discussed in connection with it:

• How the New Testament emphasis on love (1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love") is to be understood together with the fear of the LORD.
• The translation of the phrase "they that do his commandments." Rendered literally, the Hebrew reads "all who do them," which appears to refer to the "precepts" of verse 7. Many Korean and English translations interpret this as "commandments."

In the Korean Church

In sermons on faith formation and the education of the next generation, this verse is frequently cited together with Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10.

Related Passages

• Proverbs 1:7
• Proverbs 9:10
• Job 28:28
• Ecclesiastes 12:13–14
• Psalm 19:7–11