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Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 104:8

They go up by the mountains ... - That is, when they were gathered together into seas. They seemed to roll and tumble over hills and mountains, and to run down in valleys, until they found the deep hollows which had been formed for seas, and where they were permanently collected together. The margin here is, “The mountains ascend, the valleys descend.” So it is translated in the Septuagint, in the Latin Vulgate, by Luther, and by DeWette. The more natural idea, however, is that in our... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 104:8

Psalms 104:8. They go up by the mountains Rather, They went up mountains: they went down valleys, &c. They went over hill and dale, as we say; they neither stopped at the former, nor lodged in the latter, but made the best of their way to the place founded for them. The psalmist is “describing the motion of the waters in mountains and valleys, when, at God’s command, they filed off from the surface of the earth, into the posts assigned them.” Some interpret the psalmist’s meaning to... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 104:1-35

Psalms 104:0 God’s earthThe theme of this song of praise is the wisdom and power of God as seen in nature. The song begins by considering the splendour of the heavens. The light of the sun, the expanse of sky reaching down to meet the earth on the horizon, the movement of clouds blown by the wind, the flashes of lightning - all these things speak of the magnificence of God who dwells in and rules over the universe (1-4).Land and sea also display the greatness of God. He determined where they... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Psalms 104:8

Psalms 104:8. They go up to the mountains— They went up mountains, they went down vallies, to the place which thou hast founded for them. Here a noble image is lost in our translation, for want of considering that the sacred writer is describing the motion of the waters over mountains and in vallies, when, at God's command, they filed off from the surface of the earth unto the posts assigned them. Mudge. This psalm will gain great light by being compared with the first chapter of Genesis, and... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 104:1-35

Psalms 104This psalm of descriptive praise is quite similar to Psalms 103. Both begin and end with similar calls to bless God. However, God’s dealing with people is the subject of praise in Psalms 103, whereas His creation and sustenance of the world are the theme of Psalms 104."The structure of the psalm is modelled [sic] fairly closely on that of Genesis 1, taking the stages of creation as starting-points for praise. But as each theme is developed it tends to anticipate the later scenes of... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 104:5-9

The psalmist described God creating the earth and then covering it with a blanket, as one would cover a new-born infant. He pictured the earth as though it were a building and stressed the stability of what God had made. He did not mean that the earth has literal foundations and is flat. God proceeded to separate the waters on the earth from those above the earth (Psalms 104:6-7; cf. Genesis 1:6-8). Then he separated the dry ground from the waters on the earth (Psalms 104:8-9; cf. Genesis... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 104:1-35

This is a Ps. of Nature, celebrating God’s glory as seen in His works both inanimate and animate. It is an expansion of the closing vv. of Psalms 103, and like that Ps. begins and ends with the phrase, ’Bless the Lord, O my soul!’ The two Pss. are probably the work of the same author. Psalms 104 follows to some extent the order of the creation-poem in Genesis 1, and may be compared also with Job 38-41. Psalms 104:5-9, Psalms 104:19 speak of the creation of the world, but the greater part of the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 104:5-18

(5–18) The work of the third day of Creation in its two great divisions. (1) The separation of the land and water (Psalms 104:5-9); (2) the clothing of the earth with grass, herbs, and trees (Psalms 104:10-18). The poet, however, ranges beyond the Mosaic account, and already peoples the earth with the living creatures of the fifth day. “It is not a picture of still life like that of Genesis, but a living, moving, animated scene” (Perowne). read more

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