Psalm 104:25-26
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
The Hebrew phrasing here is particularly striking, calling the sea "great and broad of hands." This isn't just about its size, but how its vastness seems to embrace and extend like arms, encompassing the entire earth. It highlights the sheer immensity and reach of God's creation, teeming with an uncountable variety of life, both tiny and majestic.
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)
The psalmist has been marveling at God's creative power, moving from the vastness of the cosmos to the earth and its inhabitants. Suddenly, as if looking out at the great Mediterranean Sea, the focus shifts to its immense size and the incredible, teeming diversity of life within its depths, from the tiniest creatures to the largest beasts, all created by God.
When you look at the ocean, what do you see? The psalmist saw more than just water; he saw a living, breathing testament to God's creativity.
The Vastness of God's Creation
In Psalm 104:25, the psalmist describes the sea as "great and wide." This isn't just a poetic description; it reflects a profound awe for the sheer scale of God's creation. The original Hebrew emphasizes its vastness, even describing it as "wide of hands," as if its waters reach out to embrace the entire globe.
A Realm Teeming with Life
Beyond its size, the psalm highlights the incredible biodiversity within the sea: "teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great." From the tiniest microscopic organisms to the largest marine animals, the ocean is a place of unimaginable variety. This abundance points to the richness and generosity of God, who created and sustains such a diverse ecosystem. It's a reminder that God's creative power isn't limited to what we can easily see or comprehend.
The sheer number and variety of sea creatures might seem chaotic, but the psalmist points to an underlying divine wisdom. How does God's wisdom manifest in the deep?
Order in the Abundance
Psalm 104:25 mentions "creatures innumerable, living things both small and great." This incredible diversity isn't random; it's a display of God's intricate wisdom. Commentators note that "creeping things" can refer to any moving creature, highlighting the sheer variety of life forms that glide and swim within the ocean's depths.
Ask a follow-up
Purpose and Provision
The psalm implicitly suggests that each of these creatures, no matter how small or large, has its place and purpose within God's created order. The immense variety, from microscopic shells to great beasts like whales, speaks to the depth of God's provision and the meticulous design evident in His creation. This abundance is not accidental; it's a deliberate outpouring of God's riches, designed to be observed and marveled at.
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.
This passage describes God's creation of sea creatures, echoing Psalm 104's awe at the vast and teeming life within the waters, from the great 'leviathan' to the smallest beings.
Job 38:8-11God Himself questions Job about the sea's boundaries, highlighting His sovereign power over its vastness and its powerful inhabitants, just as the Psalmist marvels at the sea's immensity and diversity.
Isaiah 43:16This verse speaks of God making a 'way in the sea,' referencing the miraculous parting of waters, which points to His ultimate dominion over this vast and often unpredictable realm.
Daniel 7:2-3The vision of four great beasts rising from a 'great sea' uses the immense and mysterious ocean as a backdrop for powerful, symbolic figures, mirroring the Psalmist's contemplation of the sea's scale and its diverse inhabitants.
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 Hebrew phrasing here is particularly striking, calling the sea "great and broad of hands." This isn't just about its size, but how its vastness seems to embrace and extend like arms, encompassing the entire earth. It highlights the sheer immensity and reach of God's creation, teeming with an uncountable variety of life, both tiny and majestic.
The psalmist has been marveling at God's creative power, moving from the vastness of the cosmos to the earth and its inhabitants. Suddenly, as if looking out at the great Mediterranean Sea, the focus shifts to its immense size and the incredible, teeming diversity of life within its depths, from the tiniest creatures to the largest beasts, all created by God.
The psalmist has been marveling at God's creative power, moving from the vastness of the cosmos to the earth and its inhabitants. Suddenly, as if looking out at the great Mediterranean Sea, the focus shifts to its immense size and the incredible, teeming diversity of life within its depths, from the tiniest creatures to the largest beasts, all created by God.
"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 Hebrew phrasing here is particularly striking, calling the sea "great and broad of hands." This isn't just about its size, but how its vastness seems to embrace and extend like arms, encompassing…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Last reviewed October 2026
