Hebrew word · H7438
רֹן
ranei
song
The noun occurs only here. The root rnn means to give a ringing cry: most often a shout of joy or praise (Ps 33:1; 95:1), sometimes a cry of lament (Lam 2:19). It is loud, public, outdoor sound, not quiet music.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
ringing cry, shout, cry (of joy)
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
The noun occurs only here. The root rnn means to give a ringing cry: most often a shout of joy or praise (Ps 33:1; 95:1), sometimes a cry of lament (Lam 2:19). It is loud, public, outdoor sound, not quiet music.
- Against the English
KJV, BSB, NIV, NASB and WEB have 'songs'. ESV and NRSV have 'shouts' or 'cries', and NLT has 'songs of victory'. 'Songs' makes it sound like composed music. 'Shouts' or 'ringing cries' is closer to the Hebrew.
- How it drifted
Modern readers tend to hear 'songs' as melodies or worship songs. The word means jubilant shouting, like the noise of a crowd celebrating a rescue.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The root returns in v. 11 (harnînû, 'shout for joy, all you upright'). For the setting, compare Ps 118:15 ('the sound of rinnāh and salvation in the tents of the righteous'), Ps 126:2, 5 and Ps 142:7 ('the righteous will surround me, because you have dealt bountifully with me').
Where it appears
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 32:7 רָנֵּ֥י shouts of
You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
Here: 'Ringing cries of'. This is the only place the noun occurs, but its root (rnn) is the ordinary word for loud, jubilant shouting. The same root returns in v. 11: 'shout for joy, all you upright in heart'.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.