THANKSGIVING (PSALM 100)[i]
Dr. Steve Andrews
How do you say “thank you” in Hebrew? Most tourists who visit Israel easily learn to say tôdâ to express their appreciation for kindness or good service. Modern Hebrew borrowed tôdâ, which means “thanks,” from Biblical Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew, however, uses tôdâ and its verbal root yādâ in a very different way.
Giving Thanks
The verb yādâ occurs 111 times in the Old Testament with almost two-thirds of these found in the Psalms. English Bibles translate yādâ in several ways. For example, the New International Version (NIV) renders the verb in the majority of cases as “praise” (44 times), “give thanks” (35 times), and “confess” (10 times).
The original meaning of yādâ may be “acknowledge” (compare Job 40:14).[ii] Scholars of a previous generation suggested that yādâ developed from yād “hand” and presupposed the idea of raising the hands in confession or praise.[iii] However, most scholars today suggest the fundamental meaning of the verb is “confess.”[iv] For them, yādâ conveys two ranges of meaning: (1) to confess God’s character or works, and (2) to confess sins.
Confessing God’s Character and Works
Yādâ is primarily employed in the Old Testament to confess God’s character and His marvelous works.[v] To acknowledge who God is and what He does involves praise, and this moves one to be thankful. Not surprisingly then yādâ occurs in Hebrew poetry in parallel with other praise verbs: “to praise” (Ps. 109:30), “to praise with music” (Ps. 7:17 [Heb. v. 18]; 92:1), “to remember” (Ps. 45:17 [Heb. v. 18]), “to glorify” (Ps. 86:12), and “to declare” (Ps. 30:9 [Heb. v. 10]). Therefore, yādâ functions as one of the key praise terms in the Old Testament.[vi]
Yādâ normally has God as its object (Ps. 136:1-3). Righteous individuals (Ps. 140:13 [Heb. v. 14]), the people of Israel (Ps. 45:17 [Heb. v. 18]; 106:47), the kings of the earth (Ps. 138:4), the heavens (Ps. 89:5 [Heb. v. 6]), and even the wrath of men (Ps. 76:10 [Heb. v. 11]) praised God and his wondrous works. Praise requires a whole heart (Ps. 86:12; 111:1) and an uprightness of heart (Ps. 119:7). Praise also responds to the righteousness of the Lord (Ps. 7:17 [H 18]). Praise was to last forever (Ps. 30:12 [Heb. v. 13]; 52:9 [Heb. v. 11]), but apparently only the living and not the dead could praise God.[vii]
Although God’s praise could be heard among the nations (II Sam. 22:50), it was especially found in the worship of the great assembly of the people of Israel (Ps. 35:18). Praise occurred in the temple, the house of the Lord (Ps. 100:4; 122:4). David appointed the Levites to stand every morning and evening to direct the giving of thanks (I Chr. 16:4; 23:30). Praise could be given orally by word or song (Ps. 28:7; 109:30), and music often accompanied it.[viii]
Confessing Sin
Yādâ also conveys the idea of confession of sin. This includes individual and corporate confession. In worship, a personal confession of sin preceded the trespass offering (Lev. 5:5). Both David and Daniel confessed their personal sins to God (Ps. 32:5; Dan. 9:20).
On the Day of Atonement the high priest placed his hands upon the scapegoat and confessed over him the sins of Israel (Lev. 16:21). Furthermore, God promised that if Israel would confess their sins with a humble heart, He would remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Lev. 26:40). Daniel confessed the sin of his people (Dan. 9:4), as did Ezra (Ezra 10:1), and Nehemiah (Neh. 1:6). The people of Israel themselves also made a public declaration of sin during the great revival under Ezra (Neh. 9:2-3).
Thank Offering
The noun tôdâ has broader meaning than the verb yādâ.[ix] It can refer to the declaration of God’s character and works (Ps. 26:7; 69:30 [Heb. v. 31]), as well as the confession of sin (Josh. 7:19; Ezra 10:11).
As part of the sacrificial system of Israel, the tôdâ “thank offering” is one type of “peace” or “fellowship offering.”[x] In the Old Testament, the presentation of a tôdâ or “thank offering” was considered a time of joy.[xi] This type of sacrifice was often accompanied by a song of thanksgiving (also called a tôdâ), a joyful song of gratitude for God’s mercy and deliverance.[xii] Tôdâ additionally referred to the Levitical choirs who sang these songs (Neh. 12: 31, 38, 40).
Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving
Tôdâ and yādâ occur three times in Psalm 100. First, the Hebrew superscription labels the psalm as “a song for a thank offering (tôdâ).” Here tôdâ refers to the sacrifice, the apparatus of worship. As His people, as the sheep of His pasture, we are called to bring a sacrifice of thanks to Him.
Second, in the first half of verse 4, this great missionary hymn enjoins the whole earth (v. 1) to enter the temple with thanksgiving (tôdâ). This stresses the attitude of worship. Tôdâ here may also refer to a “song of thanksgiving.” In either case, the emphasis is placed on our joyous and grateful response to God’s merciful character and redemptive works.
Finally, verse 4 ends with the imperative of yādâ “give thanks.” Consequently, it refers to the action of worship. The worshiper must publicly acknowledge who God is and confess his wondrous works. We are called to declare that God’s covenant love and faithfulness endure forever (v. 5).
[i] This article was first published in Biblical Illustrator (Spring 1999): 62-63. It appears here with only slight revisions.
[ii]As suggested by Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, eds., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1907), 392. See also Leslie C. Allen, “ידה (ydh II),” New International Dictionary of Old Theology and Exegesis, Willem A. VanGemeren, ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 2:405-406.
[iii]Marcus Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903), 564. Compare also the verbs yādâ I “throw, cast” and hādāh “stretch out the hand.”
[iv]Compare Ralph H. Alexander, “יָדָה (yādâ),” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), 1:364; C. N. Dillman, “Thank; Thankful(ness); Thanksgiving,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, et al. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 4:822; and G. Mayer, “ידה ydh; תּוֹדָה” Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, eds., David E. Green, trans. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986), 5:427-28.
[v]Ps. 89:5 [Heb. v. 6]; 105:1; 106:1: 145:10; I Chr. 29:13.
[vi]Alexander, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 364-65
[vii]Cf. Isa. 38:18-19; Ps 6:5 [Heb. v. 6]; 30:9 [Heb. v. 10]; 88:10 [Heb. v. 11].
[viii]II Chr. 5:13; Ps. 33:2; 43:4; 71:22.
[ix] The noun tôdâ occurs 32 times in the Old Testament. The more specialized meanings of tôdâ are evident in some of the ways the NIV renders the noun: “thanksgiving” (9 times), “thank offering(s)” (9 times), “thank” (4 times), “choirs (that give thanks)” (3 times), “praise” (2 times), “songs of thanksgiving” (2 times), and “confession” (1 time).
[x]Lev. 7:12-13, 15; 22:29; Amos 4:5.
[xi]Ps. 95:2; Jer. 30:19; 33:11.
[xii]Neh. 12:27; Ps. 42:4 [Heb. v. 5]; 69:30 [Heb. v. 31]; 147:7 Jon. 2:9 [Heb. v. 10].