Psalm 78:2
New International Version
I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—

New Living Translation
for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—

English Standard Version
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,

Berean Standard Bible
I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

King James Bible
I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

New King James Version
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

New American Standard Bible
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will tell riddles of old,

NASB 1995
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

NASB 1977
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

Legacy Standard Bible
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will pour forth dark sayings of old,

Amplified Bible
I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples]; I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—

Christian Standard Bible
I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past —

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past—

American Standard Version
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For behold, I shall open my mouth in proverbs and I shall speak in parables of a former time.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter dark sayings which have been from the beginning.

Contemporary English Version
I will give instruction and explain the mystery of what happened long ago.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter propositions from the beginning.

English Revised Version
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I will open my mouth to illustrate points. I will explain what has been hidden long ago,

Good News Translation
I am going to use wise sayings and explain mysteries from the past,

International Standard Version
I will tell a parable, speaking riddles from long ago—

JPS Tanakh 1917
I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter dark sayings concerning days of old;

Literal Standard Version
I open my mouth with an allegory, | I bring forth hidden things of old,

Majority Standard Bible
I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

New American Bible
I will open my mouth in a parable, unfold the puzzling events of the past.

NET Bible
I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past.

New Revised Standard Version
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,

New Heart English Bible
I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,

Webster's Bible Translation
I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

World English Bible
I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,

Young's Literal Translation
I open with a simile my mouth, I bring forth hidden things of old,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
I Will Open My Mouth in Parables
1A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth. 2I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning, 3that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.…

Cross References
Matthew 13:35
So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world."

Psalm 49:4
I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:

Proverbs 1:6
by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

Ezekiel 24:3
Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water.


Treasury of Scripture

I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

I will

Psalm 49:4
I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

Matthew 13:13,34,35
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand…

dark sayings

Proverbs 1:6
To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

Matthew 13:11-13
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given…

Mark 4:34
But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

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Psalm 78
1. An exhortation both to learn and to preach, the law of God
9. The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient
67. The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David.














(2, 3) I will open.--A difficulty is started by the fact that the psalm deals with history, and is neither a proverb (m?shal) nor riddle (chidah). But the Divine rejection of the northern tribes may be the covert meaning which the poet sees to have been wrapped up in all the ancient history. The word m?shal is also sometimes used in a wide, vague sense, embracing prophetic as well as proverbial poetry. (See Numbers 21:27.)

For "dark sayings," literally, knotty points, see Numbers 12:8. In Habakkuk 2:6 the word seems to mean a sarcasm.

For the use of this passage in Matthew 13:35, see Note, New Testament Commentary.

Verse 2. - I will open my mouth in a parable. The facts of Israelitish history. are the "parable," the inner meaning of which it is for the intelligent to grasp. They are φωνᾶντα συνετοῖσιν. I will utter dark sayings of old (comp. Proverbs 1:6). Khidoth (חידות) are properly "riddles" (see Judges 14:12). Here the idea is that God's dealings with his people had been "riddles," whereto the psalmist would give the clue (comp. vers. 21, 22, 33, 56-59, etc.).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I will open
אֶפְתְּחָ֣ה (’ep̄·tə·ḥāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 6605: To open wide, to loosen, begin, plough, carve

my mouth
פִּ֑י (pî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6310: The mouth, edge, portion, side, according to

in parables;
בְמָשָׁ֣ל (ḇə·mā·šāl)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4912: A pithy maxim, a simile

I will utter
אַבִּ֥יעָה (’ab·bî·‘āh)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 5042: To gush forth, to utter, to emit

things hidden
חִ֝יד֗וֹת (ḥî·ḏō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 2420: A riddle, an enigmatic, perplexing saying or question

from
מִנִּי־ (min·nî-)
Preposition
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

of old,
קֶֽדֶם׃ (qe·ḏem)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6924: The front, of place, time


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OT Poetry: Psalm 78:2 I will open my mouth (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 78:1
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