Berean Standard Bible
18May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
The Lord Alone is Most High
Psalm 83:18
Licensed translations and the original language
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King James Version
18That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
Translation for Translators
T4T was designed as a tool for Bible translators, not as a devotional text. It makes implicit meaning explicit and flags figurative language with abbreviations. Gold [brackets] indicate translation notes. ◄Triangles► mark alternative renderings.Read more about how to read T4T →18Cause them to know that you, whose name is Yahweh, are the supreme ruler over everything on the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
King James Version
18
May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
King James Version
Translation for Translators
T4T was designed as a tool for Bible translators, not as a devotional text. It makes implicit meaning explicit and flags figurative language with abbreviations. Gold [brackets] indicate translation notes. ◄Triangles► mark alternative renderings.Read more about how to read T4T →18
May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
Cause them to know that you, whose name is Yahweh, are the supreme ruler over everything on the earth.
WLC
Hebrew, word by word
18
וְֽיֵדְע֗וּ acknowledge יָדַע yâdaʻ a primitive root; to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (inc כִּֽי and כִּי kîy a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widel ־ אַתָּ֬ה thee אַתָּה ʼattâh or (shortened); אַתָּ; or אַת; feminine (irregular) sometimes אַתִּי; plural masculine אַתֶּם; feminine אַתֶּן; or אַתֵּנָהlemma אתֵּנָה missing vowel, correcte שִׁמְךָ֣ fame שֵׁם shêm a primitive word (perhaps rather from through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; compare H8064 (שָׁמַיִם)); an appellation, as amark or memorial of יְהוָ֣ה Jehovah יְהֹוָה Yᵉhôvâh from H1961 (הָיָה); (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050 (יָהּ), H3069 (יְהֹוִה). לְבַדֶּ֑ךָ alone בַּד bad from H909 (בָּדַד); properly, separation; by implication, a part of the body, branch of atree, bar forcarrying; figuratively, chief of a city; especially (with עֶ֝לְי֗וֹן high עֶלְיוֹן ʻelyôwn from H5927 (עָלָה); an elevation, i.e. (adj.) lofty (compar.); as title, the Supreme (Most, on) high(-er, -est), upper(-most). עַל above עַל ʻal properly, the same as H5920 (עַל) used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, ־ כָּל all כֹּל kôl or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל; from H3634 (כָּלַל); properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense) (in) all (manne ־ הָאָֽרֶץ earth אֶרֶץ ʼerets from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land) [idiom] common, country, earth, field, ground, land, [idiom] natins ׃
May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
Functional Faith Reading
The Hebrew of Psalm 83:18 is precise: the poet uses YHWH — the Tetragrammaton, the personal name revealed to Moses at the burning bush — not the generic title elohim. The added phrase "Most High over all the earth" uses elyon, signifying supreme rank above every created thing.
Mainstream readings often dissolve the specificity of this name into a general statement about divine sovereignty, treating it as a property shared among multiple persons within a composite Godhead. But the text will not support that reading. It names one, and it names that one personally.
What Functional Faith recovers here is the directness the name was always carrying. Jehovah is not a theological abstraction — he is a specific person, the Father, the only unbegotten source of all things. The Pioneer confirmed this when he taught his followers to hallow that name above every other, and when he stated plainly that the Father is greater than himself. The psalmist wants the nations to land on a name, not a concept.
For someone walking the Way, this sharpens the act of prayer considerably — you are not addressing the universe or an idea but a person, the Father, whose name is Jehovah, made accessible through the Pioneer he sent.
Sit with this
When you bring your requests before the Father today, does the name you carry into that moment feel like a person or a placeholder?
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