There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
Parallel translations
- WEB There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.
- BSB There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.
- NKJV There the ships sail about; There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play there.
- NASB The ships move along there, And Leviathan, which You have formed to have fun in it.
- NLT See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Upon the sea the ships sail, and there is leviathan, formed by God to play in it. Even the mighty sea creature is God's plaything, not His rival.
Overview
Leviathan, elsewhere a symbol of fearsome power, is here pictured frolicking in the sea God made for it. What men dread is mere sport to the Creator. This declares God's complete mastery over every power, a mastery exercised by Christ, who tramples every hostile force beneath His feet.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 107:23They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
- Isa 27:1In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
- Ps 74:14Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
- Gen 49:13Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
- Job 41:1–34Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
- Job 3:8Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.
- Ezek 27:9The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 104:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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