Psalms 93:3-4

93:3 The waves ¹  roar, O Lord,

the waves roar,

the waves roar and crash. ² 

93:4 Above the sound of the surging water, ³ 

and the mighty waves of the sea,

the Lord sits enthroned in majesty. ⁴ 

Job 38:11

38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come ⁵ 

and no farther, ⁶ 

here your proud waves will be confined’? ⁷ 

Jeremiah 5:22

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

“You should tremble in awe before me! ⁸ 

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.” ⁹ 

[93:3]  ¹ 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).

[93:3]  ² tn Heb “the waves lift up, O Lord, the waves lift up their voice, the waves lift up their crashing.”

[93:4]  ³ tn Heb “mighty waters.”

[93:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”

[38:11]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verb receives the permission nuance here.

[38:11]  ⁶ tn The text has תֹסִיף (tosif, “and you may not add”), which is often used idiomatically (as in verbal hendiadys constructions).

[38:11]  ⁷ 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.

[5:22]  ⁸ 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.

[5:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “it.” The referent is made explicit to avoid any possible confusion.