Psalms 115:2

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Wherefore should the nations say, Where is now their God?

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לָ֭מָּה יֹאמְר֣וּ הַגּוֹיִ֑ם אַיֵּה־נָ֝֗א אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃

Transliteration

lāmmā yōʾmĕrû the-gôyim ʾayyēh-nāʾ ʾĕlōhêhem.

Grammar Details

• *lāmmā*: interrogative adverb, 'why'
• *yōʾmĕrû*: verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural, 'they say/will say'
• הַגּוֹיִם: definite article + noun, masculine plural, 'the nations'
• *ʾayyēh*: interrogative adverb, 'where'
• *nāʾ*: particle of entreaty, 'please/now'
• *ʾĕlōhêhem*: noun with 3rd person masculine plural suffix, 'God-their/their god'

Word Meanings

• *lāmmā*: why/for what reason
• *yōʾmĕrû*: say/speak/tell
• *gôyim*: nations/gentiles/peoples
• *ʾayyēh*: where/where is
• *nāʾ*: please/now/I pray
• *ʾĕlōhêhem*: their God/their god/their deity

Referenced Verses

• Ps 42:3 : 3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
• Ps 79:10 : 10 Wherefore should the nations say, Where is their God? Let the avenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed Be known among the nations in our sight.
• Ps 42:10 : 10 As with a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
• Exod 32:12 : 12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
• Num 14:15-16 : 15 Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 16 Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
• Deut 32:26-27 : 26 I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men; 27 Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should judge amiss, Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted, And Jehovah hath not done all this.
• 2 Kgs 19:10-19 : 10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? 14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, that sittest [above] the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 16 Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, wherewith he hath sent him to defy the living God. 17 Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save thou us, I beseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone.
• Joel 2:17 : 17 Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Jehovah, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?