Psalms 78:15

78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,

and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. ¹ 

Psalms 74:15

74:15 You broke open the spring and the stream; ² 

you dried up perpetually flowing rivers. ³ 

Psalms 78:13

78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it;

he made the water stand in a heap.

Psalms 141:7

141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, ⁴ 

so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

[78:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and caused them to drink, like the depths, abundantly.”

[74:15]  ² 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]  ³ 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).

[141:7]  ³ tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.