Psalms 42:7

42:7 One deep stream calls out to another ¹  at the sound of your waterfalls; ² 

all your billows and waves overwhelm me. ³ 

Psalms 78:15

78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,

and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. ⁴ 

Psalms 33:7

33:7 He piles up the water of the sea; ⁵ 

he puts the oceans ⁶  in storehouses.

Psalms 104:6

104:6 The watery deep covered it ⁷  like a garment;

the waters reached ⁸  above the mountains. ⁹ 

Psalms 106:9

106:9 He shouted at ¹⁰  the Red Sea and it dried up;

he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.

Psalms 107:26

107:26 They ¹¹  reached up to the sky,

then dropped into the depths.

The sailors’ strength ¹²  left them ¹³  because the danger was so great. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 148:7

148:7 Praise the Lord from the earth,

you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,

Psalms 36:6

36:6 Your justice is like the highest mountains, ¹⁵ 

your fairness like the deepest sea;

you preserve ¹⁶  mankind and the animal kingdom. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 71:20

71:20 Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress, ¹⁸ 

revive me once again! ¹⁹ 

Bring me up once again ²⁰  from the depths of the earth!

Psalms 77:16

77:16 The waters ²¹  saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and trembled. ²² 

Yes, the depths of the sea ²³  shook with fear. ²⁴ 

Psalms 135:6

135:6 He does whatever he pleases

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all the ocean depths.

[42:7]  ¹ tn Heb “deep calls to deep.” The Hebrew noun תְּהוֹם (tÿhom) often refers to the deep sea, but here, where it is associated with Hermon, it probably refers to mountain streams. The word can be used of streams and rivers (see Deut 8:7; Ezek 31:4).

[42:7]  ² tn The noun צִנּוֹר (tsinnor, “waterfall”) occurs only here and in 2 Sam 5:8, where it apparently refers to a water shaft. The psalmist alludes to the loud rushing sound of mountain streams and cascading waterfalls. Using the poetic device of personification, he imagines the streams calling out to each other as they hear the sound of the waterfalls.

[42:7]  ³ tn Heb “pass over me” (see Jonah 2:3). As he hears the sound of the rushing water, the psalmist imagines himself engulfed in the current. By implication he likens his emotional distress to such an experience.

[78:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “and caused them to drink, like the depths, abundantly.”

[33:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “[he] gathers like a pile the waters of the sea.” Some prefer to emend נֵד (ged, “heap, pile”; cf. NASB) to נֹד (nod, “bottle”; cf. NRSV; NIV “into jars”), but “pile” is used elsewhere to describe water that the Lord confines to one place (Exod 15:8; Josh 3:13, 16; Ps 78:13). This verse appears to refer to Gen 1:9, where God decrees that the watery deep be gathered to one place so that dry land might appear. If so, the participles in this and the following line depict this action with special vividness, as if the reader were present on the occasion. Another option is that the participles picture the confinement of the sea to one place as an ongoing divine activity.

[33:7]  ⁸ tn Or “watery depths.” The form תְּהוֹמוֹת (tÿhomot, “watery depths”) is the plural form of תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “great deep”; see Gen 1:2).

[104:6]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “you covered it.” The masculine suffix is problematic if the grammatically feminine noun “earth” is the antecedent. For this reason some emend the form to a feminine verb with feminine suffix, כִּסַּתָּה (kisattah, “[the watery deep] covered it [i.e., the earth]”), a reading assumed by the present translation.

[104:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “stood.”

[104:6]  ¹² sn Verse 6 refers to the condition described in Gen 1:2 (note the use of the Hebrew term תְּהוֹם [tÿhom, “watery deep”] in both texts).

[106:9]  ¹³ tn Or “rebuked.”

[107:26]  ¹⁶ tn That is, the waves (see v. 25).

[107:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their being”; traditionally “their soul” (referring to that of the sailors). This is sometimes translated “courage” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[107:26]  ¹⁸ tn Or “melted.”

[107:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from danger.”

[36:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “mountains of God.” The divine name אֵל (’el, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.

[36:6]  ²⁰ tn Or “deliver.”

[36:6]  ²¹ sn God’s justice/fairness is firm and reliable like the highest mountains and as abundant as the water in the deepest sea. The psalmist uses a legal metaphor to describe God’s preservation of his creation. Like a just judge who vindicates the innocent, God protects his creation from destructive forces.

[71:20]  ²² tn Heb “you who have caused me to see many harmful distresses.”

[71:20]  ²³ tn Heb “you return, you give me life.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will revive me once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[71:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you return, you bring me up.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will bring me up once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[77:16]  ²⁵ tn The waters of the Red Sea are here personified; they are portrayed as seeing God and fearing him.

[77:16]  ²⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:16]  ²⁷ tn The words “of the sea” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[77:16]  ²⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.