Psalms 93:3-4

93:3 The waves roar, O Lord,

the waves roar,

the waves roar and crash.

93:4 Above the sound of the surging water,

and the mighty waves of the sea,

the Lord sits enthroned in majesty.

Job 38:11

38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come

and no farther,

here your proud waves will be confined’?

Jeremiah 5:22

5:22 “You should fear me!” says the Lord.

“You should tremble in awe before me!

I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,

a permanent barrier that it can never cross.

Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.

They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.”


tn The Hebrew noun translated “waves” often refers to rivers or streams, but here it appears to refer to the surging waves of the sea (see v. 4, Ps 24:2).

tn Heb “the waves lift up, O Lord, the waves lift up their voice, the waves lift up their crashing.”

tn Heb “mighty waters.”

tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”

tn The imperfect verb receives the permission nuance here.

tn The text has תֹסִיף (tosif, “and you may not add”), which is often used idiomatically (as in verbal hendiadys constructions).

tn The MT literally says, “here he will put on the pride of your waves.” The verb has no expressed subject and so is made a passive voice. But there has to be some object for the verb “put,” such as “limit” or “boundary”; the translations “confined; halted; stopped” all serve to paraphrase such an idea. The LXX has “broken” at this point, suggesting the verse might have been confused – but “breaking the pride” of the waves would mean controlling them. Some commentators have followed this, exchanging the verb in v. 11 with this one.

tn Heb “Should you not fear me? Should you not tremble in awe before me?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer explicit in the translation.

tn Heb “it.” The referent is made explicit to avoid any possible confusion.