Exodus 15:18 — Word Study
WLCיְהוָ֥ה׀ יִמְלֹ֖ךְ לְעֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד׃
BSA◂The LORDYᵉhôvâh [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] will reignmâlak▸ [to advise or counsel, to rule as King] foreverʻôwlâm [for all eternity, always] and everʻad [perpetuity, without end]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| יְהוָ֥ה׀ | Yahweh | Noun proper |
| יִמְלֹ֖ךְ | he will reign | Verb, Qal, imperfect third person masculine singular |
| לְעֹלָ֥ם | for ever | Preposition, noun common masculine singular absolute |
| וָעֶֽד׃ | and ever | Conjunction, noun common masculine singular absolute |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | The LORD will reign forever and ever!” |
| KJV | The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. |
| ASV | Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever. |
| YLT | Jehovah reigneth — to the age, and for ever!' |
| WEB | Yahweh will reign forever and ever.” |
| BBE | The Lord is King for ever and ever. |
The translations agree on the interpretation of God's eternal reign — see How Translations Differ.
The structure is straightforward, with a main clause followed by an adverbial phrase that emphasizes the duration of God's reign.
6 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
subjectיהוה
verbמָלַךְ
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Exodus 15:18
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Song of Mosesgenerated
Exodus 15:18 is a declaration of God's eternal kingship, following the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. This song celebrates the victory over Pharaoh and the deliverance of Israel, emphasizing God's power and faithfulness. The surrounding verses recount God's promise to lead His people to their inheritance, reinforcing the theme of divine sovereignty.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psalm 10:16 | The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations perish from His land. |
| 2 | Psalm 29:10 | The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. |
| 3 | Psalm 146:10 | The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah! |
| 4 | Isaiah 57:15 | For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite. |
| 5 | Daniel 2:44 | In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 9 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — יִמְלֹ֖ךְ, yim.Lokhgenerated
The verb מָלַךְ (malak) means to reign or rule, indicating authority and governance. In this context, it expresses God's role as king over His people, ensuring their protection and guidance.
The parsing indicates that it is in the imperfect tense, suggesting an ongoing action — God will continue to reign eternally. This emphasizes the unending nature of His kingship.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
The translations generally agree on the meaning of the verse, affirming God's eternal reign.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main verb of the verse is יִמְלֹ֖ךְ, he will reign, which serves as the focal point of the declaration. The structure emphasizes God's sovereignty as the subject, יְהוָ֥ה, Yahweh, clearly stated before the verb.
The sentence is straightforward, with a clear subject-verb arrangement that highlights the certainty of God's eternal reign.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates יִמְלֹ֖ךְ as βασιλεύων (basileuōn), which also means 'to reign'. This choice reflects a direct equivalence in the concept of kingship, emphasizing God's authority.
The use of the term in the Septuagint aligns with the Hebrew meaning, maintaining the focus on God's eternal rule.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Exodus 15:18 states that the LORD will reign forever. This verse is part of a song sung by the Israelites after their escape from Egypt, celebrating God's power and eternal kingship.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
It signifies that God's rule and authority are eternal, with no end, affirming His sovereignty over all creation.
This moment highlights God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, showcasing His power and establishing His rightful reign over His people.
It reinforces the assurance that God is always in control and will fulfill His promises to His people throughout eternity.
The Song of Moses serves as a celebration of God's victory, a reminder of His faithfulness, and an affirmation of His eternal kingship.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways do I see God's reign in my life today?
- How can I trust in God's eternal kingship during challenging times?
- What does it mean to me personally that God reigns forever?
- How can I celebrate God's victories in my life like the Israelites did?
Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Exodus 15:18 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThe Lord shall reign for ever and ever. Even that same Lord that is spoken of throughout this song, and to whom everything in it is ascribed, and who is no other than the Lord Jesus Christ; his reign
Read John Gill on Exodus 15 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryThe LORD shall reign for ever and ever. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
Read Robert Jamieson on Exodus 15 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsExodus 15:18 The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.Ver. 18. The Lord shall reign.] Gaudeo quod Christus Dominus est; alioqui totus desperassem, writes Miconius to Calvin, upon the view of the Church’ s enemies. The Lord Christ reigneth: or else I had been out of all hope of better.
Read John Trapp on Exodus 15 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(18) The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.—Compare Psalms 10:16; Psalms 29:10; Psalms 145:13; Psalms 146:10. In simplicity and consequent force the expression of the idea by Moses transcends all later ones.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Exodus 15 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 18. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.] This is properly the grand chorus in which all the people joined. The words are expressive of God's everlasting dominion, not only in the world, but in the Church; not only under the law, but also under the Gospel; not only in time, but through eternity. The original לעלם ועד leolam vaed may be translated, for ever and onward; or, by our very expressive compound term, for EVERMORE, i.e. for ever and more-not only through time, but also through all duration. His dominion shall be ever the same, active and infinitely extending. With this verse the song seems to end, as with it the hemistichs or poetic lines terminate. The 20th and beginning…
Read AdamClarke on Exodus 15 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges18. With this short concluding verse, ‘glancing at Jehovah’s lasting kingship (Deuteronomy 33:5) over His people, settled round His sanctuary, the hymn is brought to a fine and effective close’ (Di.). The thought of Jehovah as King occurs already in Deuteronomy 33:5, and in the seemingly early Psalms 24:7-10; Psalms 29:10; but the stress laid on His active exertion of sovereignty occurs first in Micah 4:7, but is chiefly later, Isaiah 52:7 (hence Psalms 93:1; Psalms 96:10; Psalms 97:1; Psalms 98:1), Isaiah 24:23 (post-exilic), Psalms 146:10 (with ‘for ever,’ as also Micah 4:7).
Read Cambridge on Exodus 15 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
The LORD will reign forever and ever!”
Yahweh will reign forever and ever.”
The LORD will reign forever and ever!”
The Lord will reign forever and ever!
Tyndale line
The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.
Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever.
The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.
The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.
The Lord shall reigne for euer and euer.
Strictly literal
Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever!
Jehovah reigneth — to the age, and for ever!'
YHWH reigns—[for] all time and forever!”
The Lord will reign for ever and ever.
Yahweh will reign forever and ever.”
From the Latin
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
Simplified
The Lord will reign forever and ever!
The Lord is King for ever and ever.
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text, Septuagint, and Dead Sea Scrolls all affirm the core message of God's eternal reign. The Samaritan Pentateuch differs slightly in wording but retains the same meaning, indicating a strong consensus among these ancient witnesses.
יְהוָ֥ה׀ יִמְלֹ֖ךְ לְעֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד׃
4 of the 4 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
יהוה ימלך עולם ועוד
2 words differ from the Masoretic Text: עולם (eternity), עוד (duration)
יהוה ימלך עולם ועד
4 words on the leather.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Exodus 15:18
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
יְהֹוָה (ye.ho.vah) is the proper name of the God of Israel, often rendered as Jehovah or the Lord. It signifies the self-existent or eternal nature of God. The name is closely associated with the revelation to Moses in Exodus 3:12-15 and is used in conjunction with other terms to denote sacred places. Some scholars suggest it derives from a root meaning 'to bring into being.'
יהוה c. 6823 i.e. יַהְוֶה n.pr.dei Yahweh, the proper name of the God of Israel—(1. MT יְהֹוָה 6518 (Qr אֲדֹנָי), or יֱהֹוִה 305 (Qr אֱלֹהִים) 2. Many recent scholars explain יַהְוֶה as Hiph. of הוה (= היה) the one bringing into being, life-giver)
יהוה is not used by E in Gn, but is given Ex 3:12-15 as the name of the God who revealed Himself to Moses at Horeb
יהוה is used with אלהים and suffixes, especially in D
the phrase † אֲנִי יהוה is noteworthy
יהוה is also used with several predicates, to form sacred names of holy places of Yahweh
base
H3068 יהוה i.e. יַהְוֶה n. pr. dei Yahweh, the proper name of the God of Israel
3068 Yhovah yeh-ho-vaw'
from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish
national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord. Compare 3050, 3069.
see HEBREW for 01961
see HEBREW for 03050
see HEBREW for 03069
יְהֹוָה (ye.ho.vah) — LORD.
Jehovah = "the existing One"
1) the proper name of the one true God
1a) unpronounced except with the vowel pointings of a.do.na (אֲדֹנָי "Lord" H0136)
יְהֹוָה (ye.ho.vah) — The Lord.
Another name of ye.ru.sha.laim (יְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵם "Jerusalem" H3389)
יְהֹוָה (ye.ho.vah) — (Jerusalem of) the Lord.
Combined with ye.ru.sha.laim (יְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵם "Jerusalem" H3389)
N-proper — Noun properHNpt
מָלַךְ (malak) is a Hebrew verb meaning to reign, become king or queen, or to counsel. It encompasses various forms, including Qal (to reign), Hiphil (to make someone king), and Niphal (to consider). The word appears in contexts related to royalty and governance, with a notable reference in Daniel 9:1 for its use in the passive form.
H4427a מָלַךְ vb. denom. be, or become king, or queen, reign H4427b מָלַךְ counsel, advise—only Niph. Impf.
4427 malak maw-lak'
a primitive root; to reign; inceptively, to ascend the
throne; causatively, to induct into royalty; hence (by
implication) to take counsel:--consult, X indeed, be (make,
set a, set up) king, be (make) queen, (begin to, make to)
reign(-ing), rule, X surely.
מָלַךְ (ma.lakh) — to reign.
1) to be or become king or queen, reign
1a) (Qal) to be or become king or queen, reign
1b) (Hiphil) to make one king or queen, cause to reign
1c) (Hophal) to be made king or queen
מָלַךְ (ma.lakh) — to advise.
1) to counsel, advise
1a) (Niphal) to consider
Aramaic equivalent: me.lakh (מְלֵךְ "counsel" H4431)
V-Qal-Imperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · imperfect third person masculine singularHVqi3ms
ran: The Hebrew word malekhuth, may be rendered "kinghood," "royal dignity," "kingdom," "government" ("reign"). The verb is malakh, "to be king" ("to reign as king"), "to become king," "to accede to the throne," "to assume royal power publicly" and, generally speaking, "to become powerful." In the New Testament hegemonia, basileia, basileuein. The word is used, either as a noun or as a verb, of Yahweh (God), the Messiah (Christ) and men (kings, etc.); then of such terms as sin, death, grace; of the woman in Revelation and, conditionally, of the Christians; once, ironically, of the Corinthians. "Reign" as a noun referring to the time of reigning occurs in 1Ki 6:1 (Solomon); 2Ki 24:12 (Nebuchadnezzar); 1Ch 4:31 (David; compare
עוֹלָם (owlam) refers to concepts of long duration, antiquity, and futurity, encompassing meanings like eternity and perpetual existence. It is derived from a root meaning 'concealed' or 'the vanishing point.' The term is used to describe both ancient times and an indefinite future, indicating continuity and everlastingness.
עוֹלָם 439 n.m. long duration, antiquity, futurity
base
H5769 עוֹלָם long duration, antiquity, futurity
5769 `owlam o-lawm'
or lolam {o-lawm'}; from 5956; properly, concealed, i.e. the
vanishing point; generally, time out of mind (past or future),
i.e. (practically) eternity; frequentatively, adverbial
(especially with prepositional prefix) always:--alway(-s),
ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for,
(n-))ever(-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of)
old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world
(+ without end). Compare 5331, 5703.
see HEBREW for 05956
see HEBREW for 05331
see HEBREW for 05703
עוֹלָם (o.lam) — forever: enduring.
: enduring/eternal
1) long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world
1a) ancient time, long time (of past)
1b) (of future)
1b1) for ever, always
1b2) continuous existence, perpetual
1b3) everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity
עוֹלָם (o.lam) — Everlasting.
This name means long duration, everlasting, perpetual
Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)
עוֹלָם (o.lam) — forever: any time.
: any_time
1) long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world
1a) ancient time, long time (of past)
1b) (of future)
1b1) for ever, always
1b2) continuous existence, perpetual
1b3) everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity
עוֹלָם (o.lam) — forever: antiquity.
: old/ancient
Prep | N-ms — Preposition · noun common masculine singular absoluteHR/Ncmsa
עַד, transliterated as ad, refers to the concept of perpetuity, encompassing both past and future time. It signifies a duration that can imply eternity or continuous existence. The term is associated with ancient mountains in the context of the past and is used to denote the idea of forever in relation to the future, particularly in reference to God's existence.
עַד and וָעֶ֑ד (so alw.) n.m. perpetuity (= advancing time)
of past time: ancient mountains
of future time, לָעַד for ever
base
H5703 עַד, וָעֶ֑ד perpetuity . of past time: ancient mountains
. of future time, לָעַד for ever
5703 `ad ad
from 5710; properly, a (peremptory) terminus, i.e. (by
implication) duration, in the sense of advance or perpetuity
(substantially as a noun, either with or without a
preposition):--eternity, ever(- lasting, -more), old,
perpetually, + world without end.
see HEBREW for 05710
עַד (ad) — perpetuity.
1) perpetuity, for ever, continuing future
1a) ancient (of past time)
1b) for ever (of future time)
1b1) of continuous existence
1c) for ever (of God's existence)
Conj | N-ms — Conjunction · noun common masculine singular absoluteHC/Ncmsa