Psalms 104:6

Psa 104:6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as [with] a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

Ver. 6. Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment] Operueras, Thou hadst at first covered it, till thou for man’s sake hadst made a distinction; for else such a garment would this have been to the earth as the shirt made for the murdering of Agamemnon, where he had no issue out.

The waters stood above the mountains] As the garment, in the proper use of it, is above the body; and so they would still, did not God, for our sakes, set them their bounds and borders.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 104:6-7. Thou coveredst it with the deep — That is, in the first creation, of which the psalmist is here speaking, when the earth, while yet without form, was covered all over, and, as it were, clothed with the great deep, that vast expansion of air and waters; the waters stood above the mountains — Those which are now the highest mountains were all under that liquid element. At thy rebuke — That is, at thy powerful command, which, as it were, rebuked, and thereby corrected and regulated that indigested congeries and confusion of things; they fled — Namely, the inferior waters; at the voice of thy thunder — Thy powerful voice, which resounded like thunder; they hasted away — To the place that thou hadst prepared for them, where they still make their bed.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. (Psa 104:6) (With) the deep, like a garment, thou didst cover it; above the mountains stand the waters. Next in importance to the separation of the land and water in the beginning (Gen 1:9-10), was the temporary confounding. of the two in the universal deluge (Gen 7:19-20), which the Psalmist therefore here connects with the creation, as equally demonstrative of almighty power, and also for the purpose of founding on this seeming vio lation of the promise in the last clause of ver. 5 (Psa 104:5), a still more solemn repetition of it. The grammatical objection that the pronoun in the phrase didst cover it is masculine, and cannot therefore refer to earth which is feminine, is easily removed by a reference to the general licence of the Hebrew syntax with respect to genders, and the idiomatic tendency to use the masculine,not as a distinctive but as a generic form, in cases where the subject is sufficiently indicated by the context. There are, moreover, several clear examples of the masculine construction of this very noun besides those in which earth or land is put for its inhabitants. See e.g. Gen 13:6, Isa 9:18. The allusion in the last clause to Gen 7:19-20, is too plain to be mistaken.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

104:6 At first, water covered the earth.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thou makest the sea to be an ornament unto the earth.

If by thy power thou didst not bridle the rage of the waters, it were not possible, but the whole world should be destroyed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep] This seems to be spoken in allusion to the creation of the earth, when it was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the waters invested the whole, till God separated the dry land from them; thus forming the seas and the terraqueous globe.

The poet Ovid has nearly the same idea: -

Densior his tellus, elementaque grandia traxit,

Et pressa est gravitate sua; circumfluus humor

Ultima possedit, solidumque coercuit orbem.

Met. lib. i., ver. 29.

Earth sinks beneath, and draws a numerous throng

Of ponderous, thick, unwieldy seeds along:

About her coasts unruly waters roar;

And, rising on a ridge, insult the shore.

DRYDEN.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. He hath covered it with the deep as with a garment, This may be understood in two ways, either as implying that now the sea covers the earth as a garment, or that at the beginning, before God by his omnipotent word held gathered the waters together into one place, the earth was covered with the deep. But the more suitable sense appears to be, that the sea is now the covering of the earth. At the first creation the deep was not so much a garment as a grave, inasmuch as nothing bears less resemblance to the adorning of apparel than the state of confused desolation and shapeless chaos in which the earth then was. Accordingly, in my judgment, there is here celebrated that wonderful arrangement by which the deep, although without form, is yet the garment of the earth. But as the context seems to lead to a different view, interpreters are rather inclined to explain the language as denoting, That the earth was covered with the deep before the waters had been collected into a separate place. This difficulty is however easily solved, if the words of the prophet, The waters shall stand above the mountains, are resolved into the potential mood thus, The waters would stand above the mountains; which is sufficiently vindicated from the usage of the Hebrew language. I have indeed no doubt that the prophet, after having said that God had clothed the earth with waters, adds, by way of exposition, that the waters would stand above the mountains, were it not that they flee away at God’s rebuke. Whence is it that the mountains are elevated, and that the valleys sink down, but because bounds are set to the waters, that they may not return to overwhelm the earth? The passage then, it is obvious, may very properly be understood thus, — that the sea, although a mighty deep, which strikes terror by its vastness, is yet as a beautiful garment to the earth. The reason of the metaphor is, because the surface of the earth stands uncovered. The prophet affirms that this does not happen by chance; for, if the providence of God did not restrain the waters, would they not immediately rush forth to overwhelm the whole earth? He, therefore, speaks advisedly when he maintains that the appearance of any part of the earth’s surface is not the effect of nature, but is an evident miracle. Were God to give loose reins to the sea, the waters would suddenly cover the mountains. But now, fleeing at God’s rebuke, they retire to a different quarter. By the rebuke of God, and the voice of his thunder, is meant the awful command of God, by which he restrains the violent raging of the sea. Although at the beginning, by his word alone, he confined the sea within determinate bounds, and continues to this day to keep it within them, yet if we consider how tumultuously its billows cast up their foam when it is agitated, it is not without reason that the prophet speaks of it, as kept in check by the powerful command of God; just as, both in Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 5:22) and in Job, (Job 28:25) God, with much sublimity, commends his power, as displayed in the ocean. The ascending of the mountains, and the descending of the valleys, are poetical figures, implying, that unless God confined the deep within bounds, the distinction between mountains and valleys, which contributes to the beauty of the earth, would cease to exist, for it would engulf the whole earth. It is said that God has founded a place for the valleys; for there would be no dry land at the foot of the mountains, but the deep would bear sway, did not God command the space there to be unoccupied by the sea, as it were contrary to nature.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(6) The deep.—The water-world is first considered as a vast garment wrapped round the earth, so that the mountain-tops are covered. But here it is beyond its right, and the Divine rebuke forces it to retire within narrower limits. It is noticeable that the idea of a chaos finds no place in the poetic conception of the world’s genesis. The primitive world is not formless, but has its mountains and valleys already existing, though merged beneath the sea.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. This verse does not refer to the Flood, though its language may be borrowed from the account of the Flood (Gen_7:19-20; and cp. Psa_104:9 with Gen_9:11; Gen_9:15), but to the primitive condition of the earth. It is regarded as already moulded into hill and valley, but enveloped with the ‘abyss’ of waters (Gen_1:2), by which even the highest mountains are covered. Cp. Milton, Par. Lost, vii. 278,

Over all the face of earth

Main ocean flowed.”

The tense of the original is a graphic ‘imperfect.’ “The waters were standing above the mountains.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment,.... This refers not to the waters of the flood, when the earth was covered with them, even the tops of the highest mountains; but to the huge mass of waters, the abyss and depth of them, which lay upon the earth and covered it as a garment, at its first creation, as the context and the scope of it show; and which deep was covered with darkness, at which time the earth was without form, and void, Gen 1:2 an emblem of the corrupt state of man by nature, destitute of the image of God, void and empty of all that is good, having an huge mass of sin and corruption on him, and being darkness itself; though this depth does not separate the elect of God, in this state, from his love; nor these aboundings of sin hinder the superaboundings of the grace of God; nor the operations of his Spirit; nor the communication of light unto them; nor the forming and renewing them, so as to become a curious piece of workmanship; even as the state of the original earth did not hinder the moving of the Spirit upon the waters that covered it, to the bringing of it into a beautiful form and order.

The waters stood above the mountains; from whence we learn the mountains were from the beginning of the creation; since they were when the depths of water covered the unformed chaos; and which depths were so very great as to reach above the highest mountains; an emblem of the universal corruption of human nature; the highest, the greatest men that ever were, comparable to mountains, have been involved in it, as David, Paul, and others.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment - Compare the notes at Job 38:9. The meaning is, that God covered the earth with the sea - the waters - the abyss - as if a garment had been spread over it. The reference is to Gen 1:2; where, in the account of the work of creation, what is there called “the deep” - the abyss - (the same Hebrew word as here - תהום tehôm - covered the earth, or was what “appeared,” or was manifest, before the waters were collected into seas, and the dry land was seen.

The waters stood above the mountains - Above what are now the mountains. As yet no dry land appeared. It seemed to be one wide waste of waters. This does not refer to the Deluge, but to the appearance of the earth at the time of the creation, before the gathering of the waters into seas and oceans, Gen 1:9. At that stage in the work, all that appeared was a wide waste of waters.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Thou coveredst it with the deep; either,

1. In the general deluge. Or rather,

2. In the first creation, as we read, Gen 1:2,9; of which the psalmist is here speaking.

The waters stood above the mountains; the mountains were not made by the deluge, as some have thought, who for that reason understand this verse of the said deluge, for it is apparent they were before it, Gen 7:19, and most probably were in the first creation, because this variety of mountains and valleys is both ornamental and useful to the world.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment. The new born earth was wrapped in aqueous swaddling bands. In the first ages, ere man appeared, the proud waters ruled the whole earth.

The waters stood above the mountains, no dry land was visible, vapour as from a steaming cauldron covered all. Geologists inform us of this as a discovery, but the Holy Spirit had revealed the fact long before. The passage before us shows us the Creator commencing his work, and laying the foundation for future order and beauty: to think of this reverently will fill us with adoration; to conceive of it grossly and carnally would be highly blasphemous.

Ver. 6"Stood, ""fled, ""hasted away." The words of the psalm put the original wondrous process graphically before the eye. The change of tense, too, from past to present, in verses 6, 7, 8, is expressive, and paints the scene in its progress. In ver. 6 "stood" should be STAND: in ver. 7 "fled" should be FLEE: and "hasted away" should be HASTE AWAY, as in the P.B.V. "The Speaker's Commentary."

Psalms 104:7*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. Thou coveredst it with the deep—The word “deep,” תהום, (tehom,) means, agitated “deep,” “mass of raging waters,” flood. So Psa_42:7. Compare Job_38:8, “Who shut up the sea… when it brake forth?” or, after it had broken forth. The language suits an unwonted, lawless condition of the waters of the ocean, answering to the geological theory of the drift period, immediately preceding the human or historic era. This description of the state of the earth prior to the first day’s work assumes the existence of land and water, and is against the notion of a chaos, the rudis indigestaque moles of Ovid. (Metem., lib. 1:10.)

Mountains—The existence of these before the “six days” of Moses is another important coincidence with modern science, and a total refutation of the heathen theory of a chaos, adopted by the old commentators.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou coveredst it with the deep, as with a garment. (see Gen_1:9) A watery covering was spread at first over the whole earth, and enveloped it like a garment. The waters stood above the mountains. The highest inequalities of the land were concealed under the watery integument.

Vers. 6-13. Water witnesses to the glory of God.

The psalmist dwells most lovingly on the various wonders of God"s ways with the water; and nothing more readily influences us than masses of waters, or falling waters, or gentle streams, or pouring rains. Poetically, man is very sensitive to the manifold forms in which God arranges this one simple thing water. And nothing brings to man such a sense of irresistible power as loosened waters.

I THE LEVELLING OF THE WATERS. (Vers. 5-8) Evidently the poet is conceiving the original condition of the earth, when God dealt with it to make it the abode of man. Then it is conceived as a solid mass, surrounded by an envelope of watery mist, which rose higher than the tops of the mountains. The ancients did not apprehend the circular form of the earth, and so mists rising above the mountains presented to them no difficulty. The poet sees this mist dispelled by the command of God, and any one who has seen the mists roll away, in a mountain district, will fully appreciate his figures. They do seem to "go up by the mountains and down by the valleys." But in the Divine leading, the issue is that the waters gather into their various appointed places, and the dry land appears. What intangible, fickle things these mists seem to be! Then how glorious must he be at whose bidding they move!

II THE CONTROLLING OF THE WATERS. (Ver. 9) This impression is best associated with the sea. Sometimes, when it is driven high by wind and tide, its destructive possibilities seem overwhelming. Yet even then we calmly take our place on the tide line, and feel sure God"s bound of silver sand will be an effective defence. When he is pleased to loosen his control, the world is flooded again, as in Noah"s days. What must he be who holds in restraint the great wide sea?

III THE EMPLOYING OF THE WATERS. Even more wonderful than the restraining of the sea in bounds is the storing of the waters in the thousandfold cisterns of the hills, whence they come forth in perennial springs to supply the creatures of God. More wonderful is the continuous uplifting of the great sea into the sky, where it may form the banks of clouds, which, at fit times and seasons, burst over the earth, and, falling in chemically enriched drops, fertilize the earth, and make it bring forth food for beast and man. What must be the glory of him who is the God of the springs, and the God of the rain, to whom the waters are but an ever-obedient ministry? R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The deep - In the first creation, Gen. i, 2, 9.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

You covered the earth with water like a garment

Here the water that covered the earth is being compared to how a large garment is able to completely cover something. AT: "You completely covered the earth with water" (See: Simile)

Your rebuke made the waters ... they fled

These two phrases have basically the same meaning and are used together to emphasize how God spoke and the waters went away. (See: Parallelism)

recede

move back, go down

they fled

Here the psalmist speaks about the waters receding as if they fled like an animal after hearing Yahweh's voice. The word "fled" means to run away quickly. AT: "rushed away" (See: Personification)

translationWords

rebuke

water

voice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

You covered the deep as [with] a garment This is similar to what is said elsewhere (Job 38: 9): “When I made the cloud its raiment, etc.”

the deep That is the sea.

the waters stand on the mountains The waters of the ocean are higher than the whole world. They stand on the mountains, and so Scripture states (Amos 5:8, 9:6): “He who calls the water of the sea and pours it upon the face of the earth.” Pouring denotes only [pouring] from above downward.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.