Psalm 150

Like Psalms 146, 147, 148, and 149, Psalm 150 begins and ends in Hebrew with the word Hallelujah.{{cite web |url=https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=spur&b=19&c=150|title=Charles H. Spurgeon's Treasury of David – Psalm 150|first=Charles |last=Spurgeon|author-link=Charles Spurgeon|year=2019|work=Christianity.com}} Further, David Guzik notes that each of the five books of Psalms ends with a doxology (i.e., a benediction), with Psalm 150 representing the conclusion of the fifth book as well as the conclusion of the entire work,{{cite web |url=https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-150/|title=Psalm 150 – Let All Things Praise the Lord|first=David|last=Guzik|year=2018|access-date=June 10, 2019|work=Enduring Word}} in a more elaborate manner than the concluding verses which close the other books, e.g. Psalm 41:13:Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.{{bibleverse||Psalm|41:13|NKJV}}: New King James VersionJerusalem Bible 91966), Footnote 1 at Psalm 150

Matthew Henry notes that this final psalm parallels the first psalm in that they have the same number of verses.{{cite web |url=https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/psalms/150.html|title=Psalms 150|first=Matthew|last=Henry|author-link=Matthew Henry|year=2019|access-date=June 10, 2019|work=Bible Study Tools}}

According to the Kabbalah, the ten expressions of praise in this psalm correspond to the ten sefirot (divine emanations).{{sfn|Nulman|1996|p=151}} Additionally, the word hallel ({{langx|he|הלל}}, praise) can be found thirteen times in the psalm, correlating to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.{{sfn|Nulman|1996|p=151}} The directive hallelu ({{langx|he|הללו}}, "you praise") is seen twelve times, corresponding to the twelve new moons that occur in a Hebrew calendar year. When this psalm is recited during the Jewish prayer service (see below), verse 6 is repeated, adding a thirteenth expression of hallelu which alludes to the thirteenth new moon in a leap year.{{sfn|Nulman|1996|p=151}}{{sfn|Munk|2007|pp=129-130}}

Psalm 150 names nine types of musical instruments to be used in praise of God.{{cite web |url=https://www.ou.org/torah/nach/nach-yomi/psalms_chapter_150/|title=The Final Psalm|first=Rabbi Jack|last=Abramowitz|year=2019|access-date=June 10, 2019|work=Orthodox Union}} While the exact translation of some of these instruments is unknown, the Jewish commentators have identified the shofar, lyre, harp, drum, organ, flute, cymbal, and trumpet.{{sfn|Scherman|2003|p=75}} Saint Augustine observes that all human faculties are used in producing music from these instruments: "The breath is employed in blowing the trumpet; the fingers are used in striking the strings of the psaltery and the harp; the whole hand is exerted in beating the timbrel; the feet move in the dance".

File:Chagall window in Chichester Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 470960.jpg window at Chichester Cathedral, based on Psalm 150]]

Psalm 150 is the fifth of five consecutive psalms (Psalms 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150) which comprise the main part of Pesukei dezimra in the daily morning service.{{sfn|Scherman|2003|pp=70-75 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.halakhah.com/rst/pesukim.pdf|title=Shimush Pesukim: Comprehensive Index to Liturgical and Ceremonial Uses of Biblical Verses and Passages|first=Reuven|last=Brauner|year=2013|edition=2nd|page=51}} When recited in this prayer, verse 6 is repeated, indicating the conclusion of the main part of Pesukei dezimra.{{sfn|Scherman|2003|p=75n}} This repetition of the final verse, which concludes the entire Book of Psalms, mirrors the way the final verse at the end of a Book of the Torah is repeated during the Torah reading in the synagogue.{{sfn|Nulman|1996|p=151}}

The entire psalm is recited during the Shofarot section of the Mussaf Amidah on Rosh Hashanah, and during Kiddush Levanah.{{sfn|Nulman|1996|pp=150–151}}{{sfn|Scherman|1985|p=464-465}}

Verse 3 is included in a piyyut recited by the Hazzan and congregation on the first day of Rosh Hashanah when that day coincides with a Shabbat,{{sfn|Scherman|1985|p=324-325}} and on the second day when the first day is not on the Sabbath.{{sfn|Scherman|1985|p=362}}

In Perek Shirah, an ancient Jewish text that ascribes scriptural verses to each element of creation as their way of praising God,{{sfn|Heller|2010|p=861}} the spider says verse 5 of this psalm and the rat says verse 6.{{cite web |url=http://zootorah.com/assets/media/perek-shirah-booklet.pdf|title=Perek Shirah|first=Nosson|last=Slifkin|author-link=Natan Slifkin|year=2002|publisher=Zoo Torah|access-date=June 10, 2019|pages=10, 14}}

Psalm 150 is one of the ten psalms of the Tikkun HaKlali of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.{{cite web |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/psalms-as-prayer/|title=Psalms as the Ultimate Self-Help Tool|first=Rabbi Simkha Y.|last=Weintraub|year=2018|access-date=June 10, 2019|work=My Jewish Learning}}{{cite web |url=http://www.azamra.org/Essential/tenpsalms.htm|title=The Ten Psalms: English Translation|publisher=azamra.org|first=Rabbi Avraham|last=Greenbaum|year=2007|access-date=June 10, 2019}}

Psalm 150 is one of the Laudate psalms, the others being Psalm 148 (Laudate Dominum) and Psalm 149 (Cantate Domino).{{sfn|Brown|2017|p=265}} All three were traditionally sung, in the sequence 148, 149 and 150, during Lauds, a morning service from the canonical hours.{{sfn|Brown|2017|p=265}}

In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the evening of the thirtieth day of the month.Church of England, [https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/The%20Book%20of%20Common%20Prayer%201662.pdf Book of Common Prayer: The Psalter] as printed by John Baskerville in 1762, p. 309

Psalms 148, 149 and 150 together constitute the fourth Hoos (or fourth Canticle) of the Tasbeha, the Midnight Praise of the Coptic Orthodox Church.{{cite web |author=|date=5 February 2016|title=Tasbeha – Heaven On Earth|url=https://stshenoudamonastery.org.au/tasbeha-heaven-earth/|access-date=13 March 2025}}

Psalm 150 is also chanted at the end of the liturgy, during the distribution of the Eucharist.{{cite web |last=Girgis|first=Daniel|date=17 July 2017|title=Psalm 150 – Communion Hymn in the Coptic Rite|url=https://danielgirgis.com/2017/07/17/psalm-150-communion-hymn-coptic-rite/|access-date=13 March 2025}}

With its focus on musical instruments, Psalm 150 has been called "the musicians' psalm",{{cite web

| last = Voto

| first = Mark De

| url = https://www.classical-scene.com/2015/01/04/hemlines-cesar-franck/

| title = The Hemlines of César Franck's Critics

| website = classical-scene.com

| date = 4 January 2015

| access-date = 4 June 2019

}} and also "praise beyond words".{{cite journal |last1=Human |first1=Dirk J. |title='Praise beyond Words': Psalm 150 as grand finale of the crescendo in the Psalter |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies |date=6 June 2011 |volume=67 |issue=1 |doi=10.4102/hts.v67i1.917 |doi-access=free |hdl=2263/17117 |hdl-access=free }} It has inspired many composers to musical settings, from paraphrasing hymns to use in extended symphonic works:

File:Schumann Psalm 150.jpg]]

• Jan Dismas Zelenka – motet Chvalte Boha silného ZWV 165 (Psalm 150 according to the Kralice Bible) for bass, instruments & continuo in G major (c. 1725){{cite web |title=Jan Dismas Zelenka: Chvalte Boha silného |url=https://www.allmusic.com/composition/chvalte-boha-siln%C3%A9ho-motet-for-bass-instruments-continuo-in-g-major-zwv-165-mc0002371615 |website=AllMusic |access-date=27 January 2020 |language=en-us}}
• Johann Sebastian Bach – motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, verses 2 and 6 (c. 1727)Pamela Dellal [http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_cantata/t_bwv225.htm Bach Motet Translations / BWV 225 - "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied"] Emmanuel Music
• Robert Schumann – Psalm 150 for choir and orchestra (1822) = RSW:Anh:I10.[https://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Robert_Schumann List of works by Robert Schumann]. IMLSP Petrucci Music Library. Accessed March 4, 2019. (bearing his own note: “oldest completely finished work”){{cite book

| last = Daverio

| first = John

| title = Robert Schumann: Herald of a "New Poetic Age"

| publisher = Oxford University Press

| year =1997

| page = 23

| isbn = 9780198025214

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0nmvrgdBztcC&q=schumann+psalm+150&pg=PA23

| access-date = March 4, 2019

}}

• Felix Mendelssohn – in Lobgesang, Op. 52 (Alles, was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn) {{ChoralWiki|Hymn of Praise (complete) (Felix_Mendelssohn)|Hymn of Praise (complete) (Felix Mendelssohn)|prep=of}}
• Charles Valentin Alkan-Preludes Op. 31 No.5 Psaume 150me
• Anton Bruckner — Psalm 150 Halleluja. Lobet den Herrn in seinem Heiligthum WAB 38 (1892)Grasberger, Franz. Rickett, Richard, translator. "Foreword", Anton Bruckner: Sämtliche Werke: Band 20 Teil 6: Psalm 150: Studienpartitur, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Vienna, 1964.
• Cesar Franck – Psalm 150{{cite web |url=https://imslp.org/wiki/Psaume_150_(Franck%2C_C%C3%A9sar)|title=Psaume 150 (Franck, César)|publisher=Petrucci Music Library}}
• Zoltán Kodály – Geneva Psalm 150{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/composition/geneva-psalm-150-a-150-genfi-zsolt%C3%A1r-for-chorus-mc0002377072|title=Zoltán Kodály: Geneva Psalm 150 (A 150. genfi zsoltár), for chorus|publisher=AllMusic}}
• Louis Lewandowski – Halleluyah (Psalm 150){{cite web |url=https://imslp.org/wiki/Psalm_150_(Lewandowski%2C_Louis)|title=Psalm 150 (Lewandowski, Louis)|publisher=Petrucci Music Library}}
• Edmund Rubbra – Three Psalms, Op. 61 (No. 3){{cite web |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/5815114|title=Three Psalms [music] : op. 61 : for low voice with pianoforte accompaniment / Edmund Rubbra|publisher=National Library of Australia}}
• Charles Villiers Stanford – Psalm 150: O praise God in his holiness{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VevXghb1SwoC&pg=PA470|title=Charles Villiers Stanford: Man and Musician|first=Jeremy|last=Dibble|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0198163831|page=470}}
• Igor Stravinsky – Symphony of Psalms, third movement{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2014/jan/21/symphony-guide-stravinsky-symphony-of-psalms|title=Symphony guide: Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms|first=Tom|last=Service|date=January 21, 2014|work=The Guardian}}
• Duke Ellington – "Praise God and Dance" in the Second Sacred Concert{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_bJ37J_wxQC&pg=PA133|title=The King of All, Sir Duke: Ellington and the Artistic Revolution|first=Peter|last=Lavezzoli|year=2001|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0826414045|page=133}}
• Benjamin Britten – Psalm 150, Op. 67 (1962) for two-part children's voices and instruments (for upper voices){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTFGAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA100|title=Benjamin Britten: A Guide to Research|first=Peter J.|last=Hodgson|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1135580308|page=100}}
• Gertrud Roberts composed Fantaisie after Psalm 150 in 1971{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Aaron I. |title=International Encyclopedia of Women Composers |date=1987 |publisher=Books & Music (USA) |isbn=978-0-9617485-1-7 |pages=588 |language=en}}
• Bertold Hummel – Psalm 150 (Hallelujah. Laudate Dominum)Bertold Hummel: Psalm 150 from the Oratorio 'The Shrine of the Martyrs' op. 90, Schott Music [http://www.bertoldhummel.de/english/commentaries/opus_90.html Bertold Hummel Op. 90]
• Jimmy Webb – "Psalm One-Five-O" on Words and Music{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT74|title=Billboard Album Reviews|date=November 21, 1970|access-date=August 18, 2019|magazine=Billboard|page=74}}
• Charles Ives – Psalm 150{{cite web |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/Ives/WK_Choral.htm|title=Sacred Choral Works|first=Scott |last=Mortensen |year=2002|publisher=MusicWeb International}}
• Steve Reich - Tehillim (1981){{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&t=1391&v=_uHcKe1Iyh4 |title=VCS Creative Conversations: Ben Quash with Steve Reich |date=2025-02-11 |last=The Visual Commentary on Scripture VCS |access-date=2025-02-17 |via=YouTube}}
• Alan Hovhaness - set portions, along with portions of Psalms 33 and 146, in his cantata Praise the Lord with Psaltery (1969){{Cite web |title=Alan Hovhaness List of Works by Opus Number |url=https://www.hovhaness.com/hovhaness_works.html |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=www.hovhaness.com}}
• Ernani Aguiar – Salmo 150 (1975){{cite web |url=http://earthsongschoralmusic.com/index.php?main_page=product_sheet_music_info&cPath=1_8_5&products_id=2289|title=Salmo 150 (ssa)|publisher=Earthsongs|year=2019}}
• P.O.D. – Psalm 150 on The Fundamental Elements of Southtown{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-fundamental-elements-of-southtown-mw0000249623|title=P.O.D.: The Fundamental Elements of Southtown|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=August 18, 2019}}
• J. Moss – Psalm 150 on The J Moss Project{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/composition/e393eb5f-6f23-433a-adce-ca7d5b6fd74a-Psalm-150|title=Psalm 150|year=2019|access-date=August 18, 2019|publisher=Discogs}}
• Ronald Corp – "Psalm 150, O Praise God in His Holiness" (2007).{{cite web |url=http://www.radioswissclassic.ch/de/musikdatenbank/musiker/25363bc37a2c8d47a645f716061926595ffba/biography|title=Ronald Corp|publisher=Radio Swiss Classic|year=2019|access-date=August 18, 2019}} He also set the Latin version of the same text in Laudate Dominum (2011).{{cite web |url=http://www.classical-music.com/feature/meet-artists/ronald-corp|title=Ronald Corp|date=November 21, 2011|access-date=August 18, 2019|publisher=classical-music.com}}
• Karl Jenkins – The Psalm: Tehillim 150 in Gloria, movement 3, 2010{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/composition/3438b03f-cc83-46ad-b19f-747bac1f5451-III-The-Psalm-Tehellim-Psalm-150|title=III - The Psalm: Tehellim - Psalm 150|publisher=Discogs|year=2019|access-date=August 18, 2019}}
• VaShawn Mitchell – "Psalm 150" on Created4This (2012){{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Vashawn-Mitchell-Created4This/release/11959095|title=Vashawn Mitchell – Created4This|year=2019|access-date=August 18, 2019|publisher=Discogs}}

The following table shows the Hebrew text{{cite web |url=https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26f0.htm |title=Psalms – Chapter 150 |publisher=Mechon Mamre}}{{cite web |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.150?ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=bi |title=Psalms 150 - JPS 1917 |publisher= Sefaria.org}} of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint{{cite web |title=Psalm 150 - Septuagint and Brenton's Septuagint Translation|url=https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/chapter.asp?book=24&page=150 |accessdate=3 March 2025 |publisher=Ellopos}} and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic text come from different textual traditions.A 1917 translation directly from Hebrew to English by the Jewish Publication Society can be found [https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26f0.htm here] or [https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.150?ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=bi here], and an 1844 translation directly from the Septuagint by L. C. L. Brenton can be found [https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/chapter.asp?book=24&page=150 here]. Both translations are in the public domain. In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 149.

:Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Hallelujah.{{bibleverse||Psalm|150:6|HE}}: Mechon-Mamre text

According to the Midrash, the Hebrew words kol ha-neshamah ({{langx|he|כל הנשמה}}), which literally mean "Let all souls [praise God]", can also be vowelized as kol ha-neshimah, "Let every breath [praise God]". The Midrash expounds, "For each and every breath a person takes, he must praise God".{{sfn|Munk|2003|p=81}}{{sfn|Wagschal|1991|p=53}} The words ha-neshamah "most commonly denotes the breath of man; but it may include all animals", says Alexander Kirkpatrick, noting that "not priests and Levites only but all Israel, not Israel only but all mankind, not all mankind only but every living thing, must join in the chorus of praise".Kirkpatrick, A., [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/psalms/150.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on Psalm 150, accessed 10 July 2022

• Joyous Festivals 5716 Stamps of Israel, with the inscriptions on tab from Psalm 150

File:Stamp of Israel - Festivals 5717 - 30mil.jpg|30 mil - Lyre. "Praise him with the psaltery and harp" from Psalm 150:3.

File:Stamp of Israel - Festivals 5716 - 250mil.jpg|250 mil - Harp. "Praise him with the... harp" from Psalm 150:3.

File:Stamp of Israel - Festivals 5716 - 25mil.jpg|25 mil - Timbrel & Cymbal. "Praise him with the timbrel and dance... ...Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals" from Psalm 150:4,5.

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0I5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT265|title=Mary and the Art of Prayer: The Hours of the Virgin in Medieval Christian Life and Thought|first=Rachel Fulton |last=Brown|year=2017|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231543712}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oN95DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA861|title=The Seventeenth Century Hebrew Book: An Abridged Thesaurus|first=Marvin J.|last=Heller|publisher=BRILL|year=2010|isbn=9789004189560}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BskCNUhALp8C&pg=PA129|title=The World of Prayer|volume=1|first=Elie|last=Munk|author-link=Elie Munk|publisher=Feldheim|year=2007|edition=Revised|isbn=9781583306369}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJPhGdPkFDMC&pg=PA81|title=Searching for Comfort|first=Rabbi Meir|last=Munk|year=2003|publisher=Mesorah Publications, Ltd.|isbn=9781578197187}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbuPJeQyeskC&pg=PA160|title=The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer: The Ashkenazic and Sephardic Rites|first=Macy|last=Nulman|year=1996|publisher=Jason Aronson|isbn=1461631246}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etK8tgEACAAJ&q=126|title=The Complete Artscroll Siddur|first=Rabbi Nosson|last=Scherman|year=2003|publisher=Mesorah Publications, Ltd.|isbn=9780899066509|edition=3rd}}
• {{cite book|title=The Complete Artscroll Machzor – Rosh Hashanah|first=Rabbi Nosson|last=Scherman|year=1985|edition=1st|publisher=Mesorah Publications, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-89906-676-9}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3MRAQAAIAAJ&q=tehillim+150+every+breath|title=The Practical Guide to Teshuvah|first=Rabbi S.|last=Wagschal|year=1991|publisher=Targum/Feldheim|isbn=9780944070321|page=53}}

{{wikisource|Bible (King James)/Psalms#Psalm 150|Psalm 150}}

{{commonscat}}

• [https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26f0.htm Psalms Chapter 150] text in Hebrew and English, mechon-mamre.org
• {{IMSLP|work=Category:Pieces with text from Psalm 150|cname=Pieces with text from Psalm 150}}
• {{CPDL|work=Psalm 150}}
• Text of Psalm 150 according to the [http://www.commonprayer.org/offices/psalter/psalm150.cfm 1928 Psalter]
• [http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/150 Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy sanctuary; give praise in the mighty dome of heaven.] Text and footnotes, usccb.org United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
• [https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/daily-prayer/psalter/psalm-150 Psalm 150 / Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.] Church of England
• [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20150 Psalm 150] at biblegateway.com
• Hymnary.org, [https://hymnary.org/browse/scripture/Psalms/150?sort=totalInstances Hymns for Psalm 150]
• [http://zemirotdatabase.org/view_song.php?id=189 Hebrew text, translation, transliteration, recorded melodies] in the Zemirot Database

{{Psalms}}

{{Jewish prayers}}

150

Category:Pesukei dezimra

Category:Siddurim of Orthodox Judaism