1 Chronicles 29:11

(11) Thine, O Lord, is the greatness.—The point of 1Ch_29:11-12 seems to be that David arrogates nothing to himself; but, with the humility of genuine greatness, ascribes everything to God. As if he said, “The greatness of my kingdom, the prowess of my warriors, the splendour and majesty of my throne, are thine, for thine are all things.”

Greatness.—Gĕdullâh, a late word. (Comp. Psa_71:21; Psa_145:3.)

Power.—Strictly, manly strength; then valour, prowess (Psa_21:13). (Comp. Exo_15:3.)

The glory.—Ornament, beauty, splendour (Isa_3:18; Isa_13:19; Isa_46:13; Psa_96:6).

Majesty.—See Psa_21:6; Psa_96:6.

Victory.—Glory, splendour (1Sa_15:29). “Victory” is the meaning of the word in Syriac, and so the LXX. and Vulg. render here. But the Syriac version has “beauty.” or “glory.” With the whole ascription, comp. Rev_4:11; Rev_5:12; Rev_7:12.

All that is in the heavens . . . is thine.—The pronoun (lâk) seems to have fallen out before the following: “Thine (lĕkâ) is the kingdom.” (Comp. for the idea Psa_89:11; Psa_24:1.)

The kingdom.—The universal sovereignty (Psa_96:10; Psa_97:1; Psa_22:28).

Thou art exalted as head above all.—Lit., And the self-exalted over all as head (art thou). (Comp. Num_16:3.) Here also the pronoun (’âttâh) may have been lost at the end. Ewald, however, explains the apparent participle as an Aramaized infinitive: “And the being exalted over all as head is thine.” (Comp. Isa_24:21 for the supremacy of God over all powers of heaven and earth.)

As head.—Comp. Deu_28:13; Psa_18:43; Col_2:10.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ch 29:11 Thine, O LORD, [is] the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all [that is] in the heaven and in the earth [is thine]; thine [is] the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Ver. 11. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory.] David beginneth somewhat like as the Lord’s Prayer endeth: and here we have a pattern of a larger prayer, as there of a short. All these excellencies and all others are in God originally, essentially, eminently, transcendently. Of him we are to think as of one not to be thought of.

And thou art exalted as head above all.] Tu superemines omnibus veluti omnium caput.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 11. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness] This verse is thus paraphrased by the Targum: "Thine, O Lord, is the magnificence; for thou hast created the world by thy great power, and by thy might hast led our fathers out of Egypt, and with great signs hast caused them to pass through the Red Sea. Thou hast appeared gloriously on Mount Sinai, with troops of angels, in giving law to thy people. Thou hast gained the victory over Amalek; over Sihon and Og, kings of Canaan. By the splendour of thy majesty thou hast caused the sun to stand still on Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, until thy people, the house of Israel, were avenged of their enemies. All things that are in heaven and earth are the work of thy hands, and thou rulest over and sustainest whatsoever is in the heavens and in the earth. Thine, O Lord, is the kingdom in the firmament; and thou art exalted above the heavenly angels, and over all who are constituted rulers upon earth."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10–19. The Blessing of David

11. thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all] Render, Thine, is the kingdom, O LORD, and thine it is to be exalted as head over all.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty,.... That is, either God is possessed of all greatness and immensity, of dignity of nature, and of all perfections; of almighty power, of excellent glory, of superiority to all beings and of honour, and majesty, and all that grandeur, might, and honour in men, and victory over others; the majestic appearance they make, and exaltation above others they have, are all of God:

for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; they are both made by him, and all that is in them, and therefore he has the sole right unto them:

thine is the kingdom, O Lord; of nature and Providence; he has the sole dominion over all creatures, and the sovereign disposal of all things:

and thou art exalted as head above all; men on earth, and angels in heaven.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Magnificence. Thee we ought to magnify. David uses many words to express the sentiments of his grateful soul. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power, i.e. thou art great and powerful, &c.

As head above all; as the sovereign Lord and Owner of all persons and things.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty,.... That is, either God is possessed of all greatness and immensity, of dignity of nature, and of all perfections; of almighty power, of excellent glory, of superiority to all beings and of honour, and majesty, and all that grandeur, might, and honour in men, and victory over others; the majestic appearance they make, and exaltation above others they have, are all of God:

for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; they are both made by him, and all that is in them, and therefore he has the sole right unto them:

thine is the kingdom, O Lord; of nature and Providence; he has the sole dominion over all creatures, and the sovereign disposal of all things:

and thou art exalted as head above all; men on earth, and angels in heaven.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Yours, O Lord, are the greatness He gave praise to the Holy One, blessed be He, that He gave him so much strength to amass such a fortune for the building of the Temple, as it is written (above 17: 12): “He will build Me a House,” and near this [is written]: “O Lord, for the sake of Your servant and according to Your own heart, You have brought about all this greatness.” Now the expression of greatness can also refer to the building of the Temple, as it is written (above 22:5): “... and the House to build for the Lord, to magnify it on high.”

Yours, O Lord, are the greatness Although I have amassed all this fortune for the building of the Temple, which is called greatness, You have given me all this greatness.

the might for You gave me might to wage war with Israel’s enemies and to plunder their spoils before You, to build the House, as above. After he had waged war with all his enemies and defeated them, it is written (above 18:11): “Those also King David dedicated to the Lord, etc.”

the glory All these praises he praised him because the Holy One, blessed be He, had given him strength to amass a fortune for the building of the Temple, which is called glory (פְּאֵר), as it is written (Isa. 60: 13): “to glorify (לְפָאֵר) the place of My sanctuary,” and also above (22:5): “for fame and for glory (וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת).”

the victory that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him victory to plunder the spoils of the heathens for the purpose of the construction.

for all that is in the heavens is Yours. You rule over even that which is above the heavens, surely over that which is on the earth. Therefore, You can give greatness to whomever You wish.

and on the earth - Heb. וּבָאָרֶץ. This is intoned with an אֶתְנַחְתָּא a hiatus, for the verse ends here, and it refers to that which is above it, as I have explained.

Yours is the kingdom and [You are He] Who is exalted over everything as the Leader The meaning is: If a flesh and blood king gives a position or a ruling power in the kingdom to one of his servants after the prince, he is his servant wherever he is, but the kingdom does not belong to the king, and the one to whom the kingdom belongs does not have the servant, but as for the Holy One, blessed be He - the servant appointed to rule is His, and also the kingdom is His (cotre in Old French, kingdom) and therefore, it is written: “Yours is the kingdom, and You are He Who is exalted” over them, for even the superintendent of the well is appointed from heaven (Baba Bathra 91b). They explained further: “... and [You are He] Who is exalted over everything at the beginning.” When we think that we have praised You with all the thanksgivings, and You have no more praise, it is still nothing, for the praised One stands at the beginning of the praises. And so when David concludes all his praises in Psalms, he commences with the final psalm (149:1): “Sing to the Lord a new song,” i.e., all the praises are new, as though we had never praised Him. In this manner Rabbi Eleazar the son of Rabbi Meir the son of Rabbi Isaac of Orleans explained, and it seems to me that it is so in Hagigah Yerushalmi.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.