http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=4803
Does “Laud” in Romans 15:11 Authorize Clapping in Worship?
A recent contention that has surfaced among some Christians, in an
effort to justify handclapping in worship to God, is the notion that the
term in Romans 15:11 translated “laud” in both the KJV and NKJV
includes the idea of handclapping. Never mind the fact that students of
the Bible, scholars, and faithful Christians have been pouring over the
text of the New Testament for nearly 2,000 years, with Romans 15:11
having been read and studied by thousands of individuals for centuries;
and yet, through all those years, how many concluded that handclapping
could be found in the verse? To ask is to answer. Even as proponents of
instrumental music have imagined that
psallo in Ephesians 5:19
includes a manmade, mechanical contraption, only recently has someone
invented the novel notion that “laud” in Romans 15:11 includes
handclapping.
Let’s be honest: can there be any doubt that someone had to be
looking
for a place in the New Testament to impose his bias on the text? Even
as a person could read Ephesians 5:19 over and over and over for the
rest of his/her life and
never see any instrumental music in that verse, even so, reading Romans 15:11 would
never
lead an unprejudiced person to conclude that God encourages or endorses
handclapping in worship. The heart that approaches God’s Word with an
agenda—a predisposition to find what he or she wants to find—is by
biblical definition a wicked heart (Job 13:7; Jeremiah 23:16; Isaiah
8:20). To then compound that sin by
teaching and promoting
the concocted viewpoint is inexcusable and unconscionable. Corrupting
the pure worship of the Almighty is deadly (Leviticus 10:1-3). Think of
the innocent souls endangered by the wolves that advance their wild,
unsubstantiated theories. Tragic. Sad, indeed.
The English term “laud” comes from the Latin word
laudare (present active infinitive of
laudō) meaning “to praise, commend, extol, honor, compliment.” This action is achieved
orally with words. It has nothing to do with clapping. On the other hand, the English term “applaud” comes from the Latin word
applaudere (from
plaudō/plaudere),
meaning “to strike, beat, clap.” Hence, “applaud” is defined as “to
clap the hands (hit the palms of the hands together) as an expression of
approval, appreciation, acclamation, etc.” (Lewis & Short, 1879).
Conclusion:
“laud” and “applaud” are separate and distinct Latin terms. They are not synonyms. (Interestingly, in Romans 15:11, Jerome’s Latin Vulgate had
magnificate, to “magnify” or “extol”—
et iterum laudate omnes gentes Dominum et magnificate eum omnes populi).
Of course, the Holy Spirit did not give us God’s Word in English or
Latin. So we must go to the original languages to make certain we are
grasping God’s intended meanings. The Greek term translated “laud Him”
(NKJV) in Romans 15:11 is
epainesatosan from
epaineo
meaning “to praise or commend.” The term occurs only six times in the
New Testament, the other uses being Luke 16:8 and 1 Corinthians 11:2,17,
and twice in vs. 22 (Moulton, et al., 1978, p. 351). In Luke, the
master “commended” the unjust steward because he had acted shrewdly. In 1
Corinthians 11, the term is used to denote the “praise” (or lack of it)
that Paul expressed toward the Corinthians—so translated all four
times. Hence, in all six occurrences of the word,
the idea of clapping is completely absent.
Compare the following 20 English translations on Romans 15:11, where
the word in question is indicated in bold type and underlined:
“Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and
laud him, all ye people” (KJV).
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples!” (NKJV).
“Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; And let all the peoples
praise him” (ASV).
“Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples
praise him” (NASB).
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and
sing praises to him, all you peoples” (NIV).
“Praise the Lord, all Gentiles, and let all the peoples
praise him” (RSV).
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples
extol him” (ESV).
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples
praise him” (NAB).
“Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and
magnify him, all ye people” (Douay-Rheims).
“All Gentiles, praise the Lord; let all peoples
praise him” (NEB).
“Praise the Lord, all you heathen, and let all nations
sing his
praises” (Goodspeed).
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the nations of the world
do him
honour” (Knox).
“All you nations, praise the Lord, and all the people should
praise Him” (Beck).
“Let all the pagans praise the Lord, let all the peoples
sing his
praises” (Jerusalem Bible).
“Praise the Lord, all Gentiles;
praise him, all peoples!” (TEV).
“Extol the Lord, all Gentiles, let all the peoples
praise him” (Moffatt).
“Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and let all the nations
extol Him” (Weymouth).
“Praise Adonai, all Gentiles! Let all peoples
praise him!” (Jewish N.T.).
“Praise the Lord, all ye gentiles; and let all the people
praise him” (Phillips).
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; and
sing his
praises, all you peoples” (Confraternity).
No known English translation translates Romans 15:11 with the word
“clap.” Those who advocate such a meaning apparently think they know
more about the original language than the hundreds of Greek scholars who
produced our English translations.
Since Romans 15:11 is actually a quotation of Psalm 117:1, one must examine the underlying Hebrew term. That word is
shahvach,
which occurs eight times (in the Piel) in the Old Testament (Wigram,
1980, p. 1225). The Hebrew authorities (Davidson, 1848, p. 697;
Gesenius, 1847, pp. 800-801; Holladay, 1971, p. 358; Brown, et al.,
1906, p. 986) identify three meanings:
to soothe, calm, quiet, hush, or still, as in Psalm 89:10 (still the waves) and Proverbs 29:11 (calm one’s anger);
to pronounce happy, commend, or congratulate, as in Ecclesiastes 4:2;
to praise, laud, glorify, as in Psalm 63:4, 117:1, 145:4, 147:12, and Ecclesiastes 8:15.
It is meaning #3 that underlies the quotation of Psalm 117:1 in Romans
15:11. Like its Greek counterpart, it bears no connection to the meaning
“clap.” The Hebrew language had other words for clapping (e.g.,
tahka—Nahum 3:19;
sahphak—Job 27:23;
nahcah—2 Kings 11:12;
mahchah—Psalm 98:8).
Since the Bible is its own best interpreter, simply turn to Psalm 63:3
where the term is translated “shall praise.” The verse says, “Because
Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall
praise You.” Would those who insist that the word means “clap” contend that lips clap? That would be an interesting thing to see.
May God help us to be content with simple New Testament worship (John
4:23-24). May we seek to have God’s permission (authority) for
everything we do in worship (Colossians 3:17). May we refrain from
fleshly expressions that have their origin in human will (Colossians
2:23), human impulse (2 Samuel 6:6), and human pride (2 Chronicles
26:16). May we worship God—not to please ourselves—but to please Him
(Galatians 1:10).
REFERENCES
Brown, Francis, S.R. Driver, and Charles B. Briggs (1906),
A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004 reprint).
Davidson, Benjamin (1848),
The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1970 reprint).
Gesenius, William (1847),
Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1979 reprint).
Holladay, William (1971),
A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
Lewis, Charlton T. and Charles Short (1879),
A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
Moulton, W.F., A.S. Geden, and H.K. Moulton (1978),
A Concordance to the Greek Testament (Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark), fifth edition.
Wigram, George V. (1980 reprint),
The Englishman’s Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
Recently
we received an e-mail at Apologetics Press from a skeptic who accused
God of breaking one of His own commandments. The skeptic cited Exodus
20:17, which is the final commandment in the list of the Ten
Commandments, that states: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house;
you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” The skeptic then stated that
“God most certainly wronged Joseph when He seduced Mary, the betrothed
of Joseph.” Did God violate His own laws of morality when the Holy
Spirit came upon Mary so that she conceived Jesus? Not in any way.