Psalms 68:15

68:15 The mountain of Bashan ¹  is a towering mountain; ² 

the mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks. ³ 

Psalms 74:15

74:15 You broke open the spring and the stream; ⁴ 

you dried up perpetually flowing rivers. ⁵ 

Psalms 77:16

77:16 The waters ⁶  saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and trembled. ⁷ 

Yes, the depths of the sea ⁸  shook with fear. ⁹ 

[68:15]  ¹ sn The mountain of Bashan probably refers to Mount Hermon.

[68:15]  ² tn Heb “a mountain of God.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very high mountain (“a mountain fit for God,” as it were). Cf. NIV “are majestic mountains”; NRSV “O mighty mountain.”

[68:15]  ³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term, which appears only here in the OT, is uncertain. HALOT 174 s.v. גַּבְנוֹן suggests “many-peaked,” while BDB 148 s.v. גַּבְנִן suggests “rounded summit.”

[74:15]  ⁴ sn You broke open the spring and the stream. Perhaps this alludes to the way in which God provided water for the Israelites as they traveled in the wilderness following the exodus (see Ps 78:15-16, 20; 105:41).

[74:15]  ⁵ sn Perpetually flowing rivers are rivers that contain water year round, unlike the seasonal streams that flow only during the rainy season. Perhaps the psalmist here alludes to the drying up of the Jordan River when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan under Joshua (see Josh 3-4).

[77:16]  ⁷ tn The waters of the Red Sea are here personified; they are portrayed as seeing God and fearing him.

[77:16]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:16]  ⁹ tn The words “of the sea” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[77:16]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.