You clothed the earth with floods of water, water that covered even the mountains.
Parallel translations
- WEB You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.
- KJV Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
- BSB You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
- NKJV You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains.
- NASB You covered it with the deep sea as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains.
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
God once covered the earth with the deep, the waters standing above the mountains. He recalls the primeval waters that He alone could master.
Overview
The psalmist looks back to creation, when the deep covered all, perhaps recalling Genesis or the flood. The mighty waters were no obstacle to God's purpose. The Lord who tamed the chaotic deep is the same Christ who stilled the storm and walked upon the sea.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Gen 7:19The waters rose very high on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered.
- 2 Pet 3:5For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God;
- Gen 1:2–10The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 104:6 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.