Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?
Parallel translations
- WEB You mountains, that you skipped like rams; you little hills, like lambs?
- BSB O mountains, that you skipped like rams, O hills, like lambs?
- NKJV O mountains, that you skipped like rams? O little hills, like lambs?
- NASB Mountains, that you skip like rams? Hills, like lambs?
- NLT Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, hills, like lambs?
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
The psalmist asks the mountains and hills why they skipped. The wonder of creation's trembling demands an explanation.
Overview
Continuing the dramatic questioning, the poet addresses the leaping mountains and hills. The repeated images build suspense toward the climactic answer: it is the presence of God Himself. The verse keeps the focus on the awe-inspiring power that moves all creation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
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 114:6 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.