Barnes' Notes on Psalms 104:25

A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.

Notes on the Whole Bible
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.

So is this great and wide sea ... - Our translation here does not quite express the beauty and the force of the original; “This sea! Great and broad of hands! There is the creeping thing - and there is no number; animals - the little with the great.” The reference here is, undoubtedly to the Mediterranean Sea, which not improbably was in sight when the psalm was composed - as it is in sight not only along the coast, but from many of the elevations in Palestine. The phrase “wide of hands” applied to the sea, means that it seems to stretch out in all directions. Compare the notes at Isaiah 33:21. The “creeping things” refer to the variety of inhabitants of the deep that glide along as if they crept. See the notes at Psalms 104:20. The word “beasts” refers to any of the inhabitants of the deep, and the idea is that there is an endless variety “there.” This reflection cannot but impress itself on the mind of anyone when looking on the ocean: What a countless number, and what a vast variety of inhabitants are there in these waters - all created by God; all provided for by his bounty! return to 'Top of Page'

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