Psalms 104:25-26
Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
The verse doesn't just describe the sea's size, but highlights its "wide of hands" quality, suggesting its vastness reaches out like arms, embracing the whole earth. This imagery emphasizes not only its immensity but also its all-encompassing presence, teeming with a diversity of life, both microscopic and grand.
After marveling at the earth's riches, the psalmist turns his gaze to the vast sea, a realm teeming with an astonishing variety of life, from the tiniest creatures to the largest beasts, all created and sustained by God's immense power and wisdom. This contemplation of the sea's teeming inhabitants immediately follows reflections on the earth and its provisions, highlighting the breadth of God's creative work across all environments.
Ever look at the ocean and feel overwhelmed by its sheer size? The ancient psalmist felt it too, but saw more than just vastness.
The psalm uses the phrase 'great and wide' to describe the sea, but the original Hebrew is even more evocative: 'great and broad of hands.' This imagery suggests a sea that reaches out, embracing the land and seeming to hold the whole world within its expanse.
A World Within Worlds
This isn't just about physical size. The commentators point out how this vastness is filled with life – 'creeping things innumerable, both small and great beasts.' It's a reminder that God's creative power isn't limited to what's easily seen or understood. The deep sea, with its countless, diverse creatures, reflects a divine artistry that extends into the unknown and the immeasurable.
Beyond its size and the creatures within, what deeper truth does the sea reveal about its Creator?
The psalm isn't just listing facts about the ocean; it's using the sea as a canvas to display God's attributes. The sheer 'magnificence' and 'wisdom' evident in the sea's creation are meant to inspire awe.
Order in the Depths
Even the chaotic appearance of the sea, with its waves and powerful creatures like the 'leviathan' (a term possibly referring to large sea animals or even mythical beasts), is seen as a testament to God's control. The verse points to an underlying order and purpose, a deliberate design that showcases God's profound wisdom. It counters any notion that the world, including its wildest parts, came about by mere chance.
Understand the original words
yam · Hebrew Noun
A Hebrew term often associated with the expanse of the ocean or the chaotic waters that God, in His sovereignty, has contained and ordered as part of His creation.
'oniyyah · Hebrew Noun
Large, seagoing vessels used for trade and transport, representing human ingenuity and movement upon the vast, often mysterious waters.
liwyathan · Hebrew Noun
A formidable, legendary sea monster often used in Scripture to symbolize chaos, evil, or the untamable forces of creation that God alone controls and subdues.
yatsar · Hebrew Verb
The act of divine creation by which God brought the universe and its inhabitants into existence, demonstrating His sovereign authority and power.
c. 1000 BC— this verse
Davidic Kingdom at its Zenith
The Psalmist likely composed this psalm during the unified monarchy of Israel, a period of relative peace and prosperity, allowing for contemplation of God's creation.
c. 1000 BC
Presence of the Mediterranean Sea
The prominent mention of the sea suggests the Psalmist may have been near the Mediterranean coast or on an elevated point overlooking it, perhaps near Jerusalem.
Ancient Near East
Prevailing Cosmologies
Cultures surrounding Israel often viewed the sea as a chaotic, monstrous force, a potential adversary to divine order. This psalm presents a contrasting view of the sea as a divinely ordered realm teeming with life.
This passage describes God's creation of sea creatures, echoing Psalm 104's wonder at the vast and diverse life within the sea, from the smallest to the greatest.
Job 38:8-11Here, God challenges Job by describing His power to contain the vast sea with boundaries, highlighting His sovereignty over the immense and untamable waters mentioned in Psalms.
Isaiah 43:16This verse speaks of God making a way through the sea, referencing His mighty acts that display His power and control over the waters, similar to how Psalms portrays the sea as one of His wondrous works.
Matthew 13:47-48Jesus uses the analogy of a net cast into the sea that gathers all kinds of fish, both good and bad, reflecting the immense variety and quantity of life in the sea that the psalmist marvels at.
pulpitPsalms 104:25: "So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts."
Verse 25. - So is this great and wide sea; rather, yonder sea too (is thy work), so great and wide stretching. Wherein are things creeping (rather, moving things) innumerable. The abundant life of the sea, even in its depths, is the admiration of all naturalists. Tens of thousands of microscopic shells have been brought to light by the dredger's labours almost everywhere. Both s…
clarkePsalms 104:25: "So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts."
This great and wide sea - The original is very emphatic: זה הים גדול ורחב ידים zeh haiyam gadol urechab yadayim, "This very sea, great and extensive of hands." Its waters, like arms, encompassing all the terrene parts of the globe. I suppose the psalmist was within sight of the Mediterranean when he wrote these words.
The verse doesn't just describe the sea's size, but highlights its "wide of hands" quality, suggesting its vastness reaches out like arms, embracing the whole earth. This imagery emphasizes not only its immensity but also its all-encompassing presence, teeming with a diversity of life, both microscopic and grand.
After marveling at the earth's riches, the psalmist turns his gaze to the vast sea, a realm teeming with an astonishing variety of life, from the tiniest creatures to the largest beasts, all created and sustained by God's immense power and wisdom. This contemplation of the sea's teeming inhabitants immediately follows reflections on the earth and its provisions, highlighting the breadth of God's creative work across all environments.
After marveling at the earth's riches, the psalmist turns his gaze to the vast sea, a realm teeming with an astonishing variety of life, from the tiniest creatures to the largest beasts, all created and sustained by God's immense power and wisdom. This contemplation of the sea's teeming inhabitants immediately follows reflections on the earth and its provisions, highlighting the breadth of God's creative work across all environments.
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Ask a follow-up
Ask Sola things like:
Live chat about Psalms 104:25-26 is available in the Sola app.
"Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it." — The verse doesn't just describe the sea's size, but highlights its "wide of hands" quality, suggesting its vastness reaches out like arms, embracing the whole earth. This imagery emphasizes not only…
