Psalm 78:3 kjv
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
Psalm 78:3 nkjv
Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
Psalm 78:3 niv
things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.
Psalm 78:3 esv
things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.
Psalm 78:3 nlt
stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
Psalm 78 3 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Deut 4:9-10 | "...teach them to your children and your children’s children..." | Command to teach generations |
| Deut 6:6-7 | "...these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children..." | Parental duty to teach God's words |
| Deut 11:18-19 | "You shall therefore lay up these words in your heart... You shall teach them to your children..." | Internalize and transmit divine words |
| Psa 78:4 | "We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD..." | Direct continuation, passing on God's deeds |
| Josh 4:6-7 | "When your children ask in time to come, 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them..." | Monument as reminder for future generations |
| Exo 12:26-27 | "And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD...'" | Rituals as occasions for instruction |
| Psa 44:1 | "O God, we have heard with our own ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days..." | Ancestral recounting of God's deeds |
| Psa 71:18 | "So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come." | Intergenerational declaration of God's power |
| Psa 145:4 | "One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts." | Duty to proclaim God's works to next generation |
| Joel 1:3 | "Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to the next generation." | Prophetic command for continuous storytelling |
| Prov 22:6 | "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." | Importance of early spiritual formation |
| Eph 6:4 | "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." | Parental instruction in Christian faith |
| 2 Tim 1:5 | "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well." | Faith passed down through family |
| Rom 15:4 | "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." | Purpose of Scripture for present learning |
| 1 Cor 10:6, 11 | "Now these things happened as examples for us... Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction..." | Old Testament history as warning/instruction |
| Heb 11 | Chapters lists the faith of patriarchs as examples for believers. | Ancestors as examples of faith |
| Luke 1:1-4 | Author sets out to write "an orderly account" of what was "delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word." | Preservation and transmission of truth |
| 1 Pet 1:25 | "...the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you." | Enduring nature of God's communicated word |
| Isa 38:19 | "...the father makes known to the children your faithfulness." | Parental teaching of God's character |
| Psa 105:5 | "Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered..." | Remembering God's works as central |
| Deut 32:7 | "Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you." | Seek knowledge from older generations |
| Mal 4:6 | "He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers..." | Reconciliation and continuity across generations |
| Jer 31:34 | "And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me..." | Contrast in New Covenant with universal knowledge (fulfillment) |
| John 17:20 | "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word..." | Belief passed on through spoken word |
| 2 Tim 3:14-15 | "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it... the sacred writings..." | Importance of inherited spiritual instruction |
Psalm 78 verses
Psalm 78 3 Meaning
Psalm 78:3 states the foundation upon which the following divine instructions and historical review are based: the ancestral knowledge of God's wondrous works. It highlights the process of receiving and internalizing truth passed down through generations. What the current generation "heard and known" directly comes from "our fathers" who "told" them, underscoring the vital role of intergenerational transmission in maintaining understanding of God's actions and His covenant.
Psalm 78 3 Context
Psalm 78 is a didactic (instructive) historical psalm of Asaph. It functions as a lengthy poem recounting Israel's history of rebellion against God, despite His continuous faithfulness, culminating in the establishment of the Davidic dynasty. The psalm opens with a call for attention (Psa 78:1-2), asking the audience to hear and incline their ears to "a parable" and "dark sayings" concerning this history. Verse 3 directly follows this call, establishing that the content to be expounded is not new or abstract, but is drawn from a well-known, orally transmitted tradition. The historical and cultural context underscores that in ancient Israel, the oral recounting of sacred history was paramount for education, worship, and national identity, especially for transmitting the covenant relationship between God and His people. This practice ensured that successive generations would remember God's mighty acts and draw lessons from their ancestors' faithfulness and failures, thus serving as a polemic against the recurring amnesia and disobedience seen throughout Israel's history.
Psalm 78 3 Word analysis
אֲשֶׁר (ʾăšer): Meaning "which," "what," or "that." This relative pronoun connects the current verse back to the "parable" and "dark sayings" mentioned in Psalm 78:2, clarifying that the knowledge to be shared is precisely what has been passed down.
שָׁמַעְנוּ (shamaʿnu): From the Hebrew root shamaʿ (שָׁמַע), "to hear," "listen," "understand," and crucially, "obey." This is not merely an auditory act but implies a reception that leads to internal processing and often, in biblical context, obedience. "We have heard" signifies the receptive side of the transmission, indicating that the current generation received the information.
וַנֵּדַע (wanēdaʿ): From the Hebrew root yadaʿ (יָדַע), "to know," implying a deep, experiential, or intimate understanding, not just intellectual apprehension. The conjunction "and" links "knowing" directly to "hearing," suggesting that the current generation not only received the information but also processed and assimilated it, making it their own truth.
וַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ (wa'ăḇōṯênū): Meaning "and our fathers" (ancestors). This refers to the previous generations who served as the primary, authoritative source of this shared history and divine revelation. It emphasizes the familial and communal chain of tradition and knowledge transmission.
סִפְּרוּ (sippərū): From the Hebrew root sāphar (סָפַר), "to count," "recount," "narrate," or "declare." This verb implies a purposeful, detailed, and often formal recounting. It signifies active storytelling, where the ancestors diligently communicated the events and their divine significance to their descendants.
לָנוּ (lānū): Meaning "to us." This prepositional suffix clarifies the recipients of the ancestral storytelling, highlighting the direct and personal nature of the transmission. It indicates that the knowledge was intended for and specifically delivered to the current generation.
Words-group analysis
- "what we have heard and known": This phrase emphasizes the internal assimilation of knowledge by the recipients. "Heard" (שָׁמַע) signifies reception of oral tradition, while "known" (יָדַע) indicates deep comprehension and perhaps an internal experience or acceptance of that truth. This establishes the knowledge as personally integrated by the psalmist's generation.
- "what our fathers have told us": This part clarifies the authoritative source and the method of transmission. It highlights the intergenerational continuity, where older generations serve as living conduits of divine revelation and historical accounts. The "telling" was a deliberate act of instruction, aimed at perpetuating the memory of God's covenant works and demands.
Psalm 78 3 Bonus section
The practice of oral tradition, explicitly referenced in Psalm 78:3, was deeply interwoven with the written Scriptures in ancient Israel. While the "fathers told" these stories, they would also be preserved and canonized in the sacred writings, reinforcing and solidifying the divine truths for future generations. This ensures not only the continuity but also the accuracy of the transmission. The Psalm itself, as a piece of written scripture, acts as a vehicle for this very purpose—capturing the essence of the oral teaching and making it accessible to a broader audience over time. This verse serves as a reminder that the content of the "parable" (Psa 78:2) is not new but is a vital, ancestral inheritance meant to guide contemporary life.
Psalm 78 3 Commentary
Psalm 78:3 sets the stage for the didactic purpose of the entire psalm. It highlights that the profound truths about God's dealings with Israel are not new revelations but are rooted in an ancient, established tradition passed down through generations. This verse emphasizes the crucial dual aspect of spiritual inheritance: the active transmission by elders ("our fathers have told us") and the receptive internalization by the younger generation ("we have heard and known"). The knowledge transmitted includes not just facts but also understanding and the wisdom derived from God's acts, implying that to truly "know" meant to obey and to live in light of those truths. The very act of the psalmist recounting this history further solidifies this intergenerational chain, demonstrating that he too is fulfilling the duty to preserve and propagate God's word and works. The spiritual health of the nation depended on this continuous and faithful telling and hearing, enabling each generation to learn from past faithfulness and failures, thereby fostering present obedience and future hope.