“Psalm 23” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Psalm 23”

“Psalm 23” Summary

“Psalm 23” Themes

• 

  Faith in God's Power and Protection

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Psalm 23”

• Line 1

  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Line 2

  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Line 3

  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Line 4

  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Line 5

  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Line 6

  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“Psalm 23” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Extended Metaphor

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

“Psalm 23” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Shepherd
• Want
• Maketh/Leadeth/Restoreth
• Pastures
• Righteousness
• Thou/Thy
• Thy Rod and Thy Staff
• Preparest/Anointest
• Mine
• Anointest
• Dwell

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Psalm 23”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Psalm 23” Speaker

“Psalm 23” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Psalm 23”

More “Psalm 23” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Psalm as an Orthodox Chant — Listen to the psalm chanted in a different English translation—and in the vocal tradition of the Greek Orthodox church.

  • The Psalm in Hebrew — Listen to the psalm performed as a folk song in the original Hebrew.

  • The King James Version — Read about the complex history of the King James Bible, the translation from which this famous version of Psalm 23 is taken.

  • The History of Psalm 23 — Read about the history of this psalm, including how it fits into the Bible and how it became so widely known.

  • More Translations — Visit the Bible Gateway to read this psalm in a whole host of different translations and compare and contrast!

  • The Psalm in Latin — Listen to the psalm performed as a Latin chant in the Catholic tradition.

  • The Psalm's Connotations — Watch the scholar Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi give a witty, funny explanation of the psalm's connotations in its original Hebrew.