The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The verse personifies the sea and the Jordan River, making them act as if they saw God's powerful presence with Israel and responded with fear. It's not just that the waters parted; nature itself was stunned into obedience, reacting with astonishment to its Creator's might on behalf of His people.
The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This psalm is a poetic retelling of Israel's exodus from Egypt and their journey to the Promised Land. It highlights God's powerful intervention, personifying natural elements like the sea and the Jordan River as recoiling in awe and obedience at His presence with His people. The verses immediately before and after focus on Israel's departure and the dramatic parting of these waters, emphasizing that it was God's magnificent power, not human effort, that cleared their path.
Imagine the sea and a major river not just being parted, but actually fleeing and turning back in panic. What does this incredible imagery tell us about God's power?
Awestruck Nature
This verse uses vivid personification, giving human-like qualities to the sea and the Jordan River. They aren't just passively parted; they see something and react dramatically.
This wasn't just a physical parting of waters; it was nature itself recoiling before its Creator and His people.
Why does the Psalm focus on the reaction of the sea and Jordan, rather than explicitly naming God as the one causing it? What's the effect?
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The Grand Entrance
The power of this verse lies in its deliberate focus on the effects of God's presence without immediately stating the cause.
This ancient event of crossing the sea and river is mentioned multiple times in Scripture. Why does it keep coming up, and what deeper truths does it reveal?
Echoes of Redemption
The parting of the Red Sea and the crossing of the Jordan were foundational moments for Israel, but their significance echoes far beyond that single generation.
This psalm vividly recalls the awe-inspiring miracles at the Red Sea and the Jordan River during the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan, reminding us that all of creation responds to God's powerful presence.
c. 1446 BC— this verse
Exodus from Egypt
The Israelites, led by Moses, leave Egypt after centuries of slavery, marking a pivotal moment of divine deliverance.
c. 1446 BC
Parting of the Red Sea
God miraculously parts the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to escape Pharaoh's pursuing army, which is then drowned.
c. 1406 BC
Crossing the Jordan River
The Israelites, led by Joshua, cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, with its waters miraculously halted.
This passage describes the Red Sea parting, which is the event alluded to in Psalm 114:3, showing God's powerful intervention to free His people.
Joshua 3:13-17This passage details the Jordan River drying up as the Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing God's presence, crossed, directly connecting to the second part of Psalm 114:3.
Habakkuk 3:10This verse also speaks of the waters seeing God and fleeing, echoing the personification and awe-inspiring power demonstrated in Psalm 114:3.
Nehemiah 9:11This passage recounts God's mighty acts for Israel, including 'breaking the waters before them,' which directly references the Red Sea parting mentioned in the psalm.
poolePsalms 114:3: "The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back."
Saw it, to wit, this glorious work of God in bringing his people out of Egypt.
ellicottPsalms 114:3: "The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back."
(3) Fled. —The Authorised Version weakens the effect by rendering “it was driven back.” (See Joshua 3:16 .) The scene presented is of the “descending stream” (the words employed seem to have a special reference to that peculiar and most significant name of the “Jordan”) not parted asunder, as we generally fancy, but, as the psalm expresses it, “turned backwards” (Stanley, Jewish Church, i. 229).
The verse personifies the sea and the Jordan River, making them act as if they saw God's powerful presence with Israel and responded with fear. It's not just that the waters parted; nature itself was stunned into obedience, reacting with astonishment to its Creator's might on behalf of His people.
This psalm is a poetic retelling of Israel's exodus from Egypt and their journey to the Promised Land. It highlights God's powerful intervention, personifying natural elements like the sea and the Jordan River as recoiling in awe and obedience at His presence with His people. The verses immediately before and after focus on Israel's departure and the dramatic parting of these waters, emphasizing that it was God's magnificent power, not human effort, that cleared their path.
This psalm is a poetic retelling of Israel's exodus from Egypt and their journey to the Promised Land. It highlights God's powerful intervention, personifying natural elements like the sea and the Jordan River as recoiling in awe and obedience at His presence with His people. The verses immediately before and after focus on Israel's departure and the dramatic parting of these waters, emphasizing that it was God's magnificent power, not human effort, that cleared their path.
"The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs." — The verse personifies the sea and the Jordan River, making them act as if they saw God's powerful presence with Israel and responded with fear. It's not just that the waters parted; nature itself w…
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Last reviewed October 2026