Discovery BoxPsalms 46:3 
Context46:3 when its waves 1 crash 2 and foam,
and the mountains shake 3 before the surging sea. 4 (Selah)
Psalms 65:6
Context65:6 You created the mountains by your power, 5
and demonstrated your strength. 6
Psalms 72:3
Context72:3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,
and the hills will announce justice. 7
Psalms 80:10
Context80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars 8 by its branches.
Psalms 97:5
Context97:5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of the whole earth.
Psalms 98:8
Context98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands!
Let the mountains sing in unison
Psalms 104:6
Context104:6 The watery deep covered it 9 like a garment;
the waters reached 10 above the mountains. 11
Psalms 104:18
Context104:18 The wild goats live in the high mountains; 12
the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.
Psalms 114:6
Context114:6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
like lambs, O hills?
Psalms 125:2
Context125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, 13
so the Lord surrounds his people,
now and forevermore.
Psalms 144:5
Context144:5 O Lord, make the sky sink 14 and come down! 15
Touch the mountains and make them smolder! 16
Psalms 148:9
Context148:9 you mountains and all you hills,
you fruit trees and all you cedars,
1 tn Heb “its waters.”
2 tn Or “roar.”
3 tn The three imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the characteristic nature of the activity described.
4 tn Heb “at its swelling.” The Hebrew word often means “pride.” If the sea is symbolic of hostile nations, then this may be a case of double entendre. The surging, swelling sea symbolizes the proud, hostile nations. On the surface the psalmist appears to be depicting a major natural catastrophe, perhaps a tidal wave. If so, then the situation would be hypothetical. However, the repetition of the verbs הָמָה (hamah, “crash; roar,” v. 3) and מוֹט (mot, “shake,” v. 2) in v. 6, where nations/kingdoms “roar” and “shake,” suggests that the language of vv. 2-3 is symbolic and depicts the upheaval that characterizes relationships between the nations of the earth. As some nations (symbolized by the surging, chaotic waters) show hostility, others (symbolized by the mountains) come crashing down to destruction. The surging waters are symbolic of chaotic forces in other poetic texts (see, for example, Isa 17:12; Jer 51:42) and mountains can symbolize strong kingdoms (see, for example, Jer 51:25).
5 tn Heb “[the] one who establishes [the] mountains by his power.”
6 tn Heb “one [who] is girded with strength”; or “one [who] girds himself with strength.”
7 tn Heb “[the] mountains will bear peace to the people, and [the] hills with justice.” The personified mountains and hills probably represent messengers who will sweep over the land announcing the king’s just decrees and policies. See Isa 52:7 and C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:133.
8 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
9 tc Heb “you covered it.” The masculine suffix is problematic if the grammatically feminine noun “earth” is the antecedent. For this reason some emend the form to a feminine verb with feminine suffix, כִּסַּתָּה (kisattah, “[the watery deep] covered it [i.e., the earth]”), a reading assumed by the present translation.
10 tn Heb “stood.”
11 sn Verse 6 refers to the condition described in Gen 1:2 (note the use of the Hebrew term תְּהוֹם [tÿhom, “watery deep”] in both texts).
12 tn Heb “the high mountains [are] for the goats.”
13 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
14 tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the
15 tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.
16 tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.
