verb
psallamō
Strong’sG5567
I sing psalms
stem psall-5 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books3 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
ψάλλω
[in LXX chiefly for זמר pi. (Jg 5:3, Ps 7:17, al.), also for נגן pi. (I Ki 16:16ff., al.);]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5567 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpsal'-lo
compare G5597); to twitch or twang, i.e. to play on a stringed instrument (celebrate the divine worship with music and accompanying odes)
Fromprobably strengthened from ψάω (to rub or touch the surface;
King Jamesmake melody, sing (psalms).
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
future ψᾰλῶ LXX+NT: aorist ἔψηλα LXX+5th c.BC+:—pluck, pull, twitch, ψ. ἔθειραν pluck the hair, Refs 4th c.BC+ twang them, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκ κέραος ψ. βέλος send a shaft twanging from the bow, Refs; so μιλτοχαρὴς σχοῖνος ψαλλομένη a carpenter's red line, which is twitched and then suddenly let go, so as to leave a mark, Refs 5th c.BC+
II mostly of the strings of musical instruments, play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the plectron, ψῆλαι καὶ κρούειν τῷ πλήκτρῳ Refs 5th c.BC+ [same place], et ibi Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to κιθαρίζω, Refs 5th c.BC+; πρὶν μέν σ᾽ ἑπτάτονον ψάλλον (i.e. τὴν λύραν) Ion Eleg.3.3: absolutely, Refs 5th c.BC+ —Prov., ῥᾷον ἤ τις ἂν χορδὴν ψήλειε 'as easy as falling off a log', Refs 2nd c.AD+
II.2 later, sing to a harp, LXX+NT; τῷ πνεύματι NT
II.3 passive, of the instrument, to be struck or played, ψαλλομένη χορδή Refs 4th c.BC+; also of persons, to be played to on the harp, Refs 3rd c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| psallamiψαλῶ | will happen · Ifuture active indicative 1st person singular | sing | 3× |
| psallatōrψαλλέτω | happening now · he/she/itpresent active imperative 3rd person singular | sing songs of praise | 1× |
| psallarōntoisψάλλοντες | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | making melody | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | psallamō | psallame | psallami3×ψαλῶ | psallama | psallamē | psallamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | psallasō | psallase | psallasi | psallasa | psallasē | psallaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | psallatō | psallate | psallati | psallata | psallatē | psallatelē |
| we 1st person plural | psallanō | psallane | psallani | psallana | psallanē | psallanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | psallavō | psallave | psallavi | psallava | psallavē | psallavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | psallalō | psallale | psallali | psallala | psallalē | psallalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | psallameiō | psallameia | psallameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | psallaseiō | psallaseia | psallaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | psallateiō | psallateia | psallateiē |
| we 1st person plural | psallaneiō | psallaneia | psallaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | psallaveiō | psallaveia | psallaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | psallaleiō | psallaleia | psallaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | psallasōr | psallasar | psallasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | psallatōr1×ψαλλέτω | psallatar | psallatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | psallavōr | psallavar | psallavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | psallalōr | psallalar | psallalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | psallamoiō | psallamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | psallasoiō | psallasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | psallatoiō | psallatoia |
| we 1st person plural | psallanoiō | psallanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | psallavoiō | psallavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | psallaloiō | psallaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | psallarō | psallari | psallara | psallarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | psallarōntos1× | psallarintos | psallarantos | psallarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
psall is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
5 occurrences, every one of them listed
psallami“sing”will happen · Ifuture active indicative 1st person singular3×
Romans 15:9… en ethnei, kai te onome su psallami.… You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”
1 Corinthians 14:15“sing praise”… pneume, proseuchemi de kai to nouo; psallami te pneume, psallami de kai to …… with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with …
1 Corinthians 14:15… kai to nouo; psallami te pneume, psallami de kai to nouo;… pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will …
psallatōr“sing songs of praise”happening now · he/she/itpresent active imperative 3rd person singular1×
James 5:13“sing songs of praise”… tinos en vi? proseuchotōr; euthumatō tinos? psallatōr.… one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should …
psallarōntois“making melody”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Ephesians 5:19“making melody”… humnoi kai ōdai pneumatikai, adarōntois kai psallarōntois ta kardia vu to kurio,… with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,