In short
Praise as the throwing out of the hands: thanks and confession made with the body, from the root meaning to cast or throw.
The full definition
Yadah (יָדָה) comes from a root meaning to throw or cast, and its praise is bodily before it is verbal: the hand thrown out, lifted, extended toward HaShem. It carries both thanksgiving and confession, because acknowledging what God has done and acknowledging what you have done are the same motion of an open hand. From this root Leah names her fourth son Yehudah [Judah], “this time I will yadah YHWH” (B’reshit [Genesis] 29:35), and from the same root comes todah, the thank-offering. Do not confuse it with yada (יָדַע), “to know”: a different root, a different word.
Key passages
- Genesis 29:35
- Psalm 100:4
- Psalm 107:1
- 2 Chronicles 7:6