psalm

«psalm» in Mova's school dictionary: a holy song or poem in the Book of Psalms in the Bible… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a psalm, psalms; the Psalms — the book)

meaning for a pupil

1) (Bible) A psalm is a holy song or poem in the Book of Psalms in the Bible, used by Jews and Christians to praise, thank, or call out to God. tree →

2) (church) A psalm is any such song sung or said in a church or synagogue service. tree →

sense in the lessons

Psalms are read at services, weddings and funerals; Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd") is the best known and is often read when someone has died, to give comfort. Many psalms are said to come from King David. In school RE (religious education), psalms are examples of poetry with feelings: joy, fear, sorrow and trust. Phrases: sing a psalm, read a psalm, the Book of Psalms, Psalm 23.

examples

• The choir sang a psalm at the start of the service. tree →
• Our RE teacher read Psalm 23 aloud to the class. tree →
• "The Lord is my shepherd" is the first line of a famous psalm. tree →
• Many psalms are prayers for help in hard times. tree →
• At Grandpa's funeral, the vicar read a psalm about green pastures. tree →
• We wrote our own psalm of thanks for the harvest. tree →
• Some psalms are happy and some are full of sorrow. tree →
• It was a psalm of praise and thanksgiving. tree →

note

The p is silent: say "sahm". Plural psalms. Capital P when naming one ("Psalm 23") or the book ("the Psalms"). A psalm is not the same as a hymn: hymns were written later by many people; psalms are in the Bible.

In the corpora

• Psalm 8 looks up at the moon and stars and wonders why God cares about small human beings.
• The Book of Psalms has 150 psalms, which are songs and prayers used in worship by Jews and Christians.
• Many psalms are linked with King David, who was a shepherd boy before he became king.
• Psalm 23 begins «The Lord is my shepherd» and pictures God leading, feeding and protecting, even through the darkest valley.
• Psalm 23 is often read at funerals because Christians find comfort in it that God is with them in hard times.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «psalm» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.