Psalms 98:8

98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands!

Let the mountains sing in unison

Psalms 107:33

107:33 He turned ¹  streams into a desert,

springs of water into arid land,

Psalms 24:2

24:2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,

and established ²  it upon the ocean currents. ³ 

Psalms 74:15

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

you dried up perpetually flowing rivers. ⁵ 

Psalms 137:1

Psalm 137 ⁶ 

137:1 By the rivers of Babylon

we sit down and weep ⁷ 

when we remember Zion.

[107:33]  ¹ tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. (The use of prefixed forms with vav [ו] consecutive in vv. 36-37 favor this.) The psalmist may return to the theme of God’s intervention for the exiles (see vv. 4-22, especially vv. 4-9). However, many regard vv. 33-41 as a hymnic description which generalizes about God’s activities among men. In this case it would be preferable to use the English present tense throughout (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[24:2]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, referring to the creation of the world.

[24:2]  ² sn He…established it upon the ocean currents. The description reflects ancient Israelite prescientific cosmology, which is based on outward appearances. The language also suggests that God’s creative work involved the subjugation of chaos, symbolized by the sea.

[74:15]  ¹ 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]  ² 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).

[137:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 137. The Babylonian exiles lament their condition, vow to remain loyal to Jerusalem, and appeal to God for revenge on their enemies.

[137:1]  ² tn Heb “there we sit down, also we weep.”