IsraelForYou
EN
EnglishEN РусскийRU
A shepherd carries a sheep through a rocky valley, with two sheep following behind.

Psalm 23: The Lord Is My Shepherd in 4 Hebrew Words

My shepherd, bring back, with me, pursue: a psalm of the road, with three words at its center

Hebrew & Bible

Full guide: 7 min · 4 chapters · 4 Hebrew words

IsraelForYou

Psalm 23 may be the best-loved chapter in the Bible. We hear it at funerals and see it printed over green hills and quiet water, and we've learned to read it as a picture of peace. In Hebrew, it's set somewhere harder. Word after word comes from the Bible's stories of hard roads: Israel's forty years in the wilderness, and Jacob's long way home.

Four Hebrew words change lines we thought we knew: “my shepherd,” “he restores,” “with me” and “follow.” Read together, they move the weight of the psalm from the calm of the sheep to the Shepherd who won't let the sheep go.

The chapters

  1. Psalm 23: The Lord Is My Shepherd in 4 Hebrew Words
  2. 1. Ro’i: my shepherd, in the wilderness
  3. 2. Shuv: he brings my life back
  4. 3. Immadi: the center of the psalm
  5. 4. Radaf: pursued all the way home

Hebrew in this guide

roehרֹעֶה shuvשׁוּב nepheshנֶפֶשׁ immadiעִמָּדִי radafרָדַף hesedחֶסֶד

Scripture it opens

Psalm 23:1-6 Psalm 77:20 Deuteronomy 2:7 Exodus 15:13 Psalm 78:19 Mark 6:34-42 Jeremiah 50:6 Jeremiah 50:19 Psalm 106:8 1 Peter 2:25 Jeremiah 2:6 Genesis 28:20-21 Genesis 48:15 Exodus 14:9 Luke 15:4-5 Ezekiel 34:15 John 10:11 Psalm 22:1 Matthew 27:46 Revelation 7:17

How it reads in the app

The same guide, opened in IsraelForYou: tap any Hebrew word and its meaning rises from below, with the verses it lives in.

A shepherd carries a sheep through a rocky valley, with two sheep following behind. Psalm 23: The Lord Is My Shepherd in 4 Hebrew Words

Psalm 23 may be the best-loved chapter in the Bible. We hear it at funerals and see it printed over green hills and quiet water, and we've learned to read it as a picture of peace. In Hebrew, it's set somewhere harder. Word after word comes from the Bible's stories of hard roads: Israel's forty years in the wilderness, and Jacob's long way home.

Four Hebrew words change lines we thought we knew: “my shepherd,” “he restores,” “with me” and “follow.” Read together, they move the weight of the psalm from the calm of the sheep to the Shepherd who won't let the sheep go.

Continue in IsraelForYou

IsraelForYou is on the App Store, free to download. A Google Play edition is planned and will be linked here when it ships.

Download on theApp Store PlannedGoogle Play