📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 29:11
What does 1 Chronicles 29:11 mean?
"Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, Yahweh, and you are exalted as head above all."
— 1 Chronicles 29:11 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
People with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of Yahweh’s house, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.
Then the people rejoiced, because they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to Yahweh; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
Therefore David blessed Yahweh before all the assembly; and David said, “You are blessed, Yahweh, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.
Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, Yahweh, and you are exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all! In your hand is power and might! It is in your hand to make great, and to give strength to all!
Now therefore, our God, we thank you, and praise your glorious name.
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
Explanation
This verse comes from a prayer of David near the end of his life, offered publicly before the assembly of Israel after the people had given generously toward the materials for building the temple, a project David himself would not live to complete but had prepared for extensively. Having just witnessed the leaders and people offer their wealth willingly and joyfully for the house of God, David bursts into praise, acknowledging that everything they had just given actually belonged to God in the first place. The verse is essentially a doxology, a spontaneous outburst of worship that names and celebrates the very nature of who God is.
In plain language, David is saying that every quality worth admiring — greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty — belongs to God alone, not as borrowed attributes but as his very own possession. He then broadens the scope even further: everything that exists in heaven and on earth belongs to God. The kingdom itself, meaning all rule and authority, is God's kingdom, not David's, not Israel's, not any human government's. And God stands exalted, positioned as head over all things, meaning nothing and no one is above him or equal to him.
Theologically, this verse functions as a corrective to human pride, especially significant given the context. David was Israel's most celebrated king, a man of great military victories, wealth, and influence. Yet at the height of a moment that could have been about his own legacy — funding a magnificent temple — he redirects all credit and ownership to God. The verse teaches that sovereignty, ownership, and glory are not shared between God and humanity as if in partnership; they belong to God categorically. Human achievements
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