Proverbs 8:29
in Proverbs 8when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When he gave to the sea its bound, That the waters should not transgress his commandment, When he marked out the foundations of the earth;
KJV
When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 3 -- On Faith · Written before 523.
For in the beginning when He created the world and all that therein is, and when He was establishing things, wisdom worked with Him, even as Solomon saith, "The Lord by His wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and He constructed the heavens by …
This site's exposition
when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep
on Proverbs 8:27-31
Wisdom is present at “a boundary for the sea,” which Job 38:11 states: “You may come this far, but no farther”. The words “His delight day by day, rejoicing always in His presence” are familial, and the Hebrew amon, craftsman or nursling, is left unsettled.
This site's exposition
when He set a boundary for the sea
Clarke reads the boundary as the measure of the sea, its saltness and the size of its surface set against the rain it must supply. The foundations of the earth are marked out like a builder's lines. Wisdom watched both.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
How able, how fit, is the Son of God to be the Saviour of the world, who was the Creator of it! The infinite complacency which the Father had in him, and he in the Father (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
When he gave to the sea his decree - When he assigned its limits, adjusted its saltness, and proportioned the extent of the surface to the quantity of vapors to be raised from it, for the irrigation of the terrene surface.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Strictly, God's attributes are part of Himself. Yet, to the poetical structure of the whole passage, this commendation of wisdom is entirely consonant. In order of time all His attributes are coincident and eternal as Himself.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
commandment--better, the shore, that is, of the sea. foundations--figuratively denotes the solid structure (Job 38:4; 30, 31. one brought up--an object of special and pleasing regard. The bestowal of wisdom on men is represented by its finding a delightful residence and pleasing God.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
Modern Voices1 voice
But there is another quarrel involved in which the young gentleman of culture comes into violent collision with the young lady of the cauliflowers. The first essential of the merely bookish view of the sea is that it is boundless, and gives a sentiment of …
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּשׂ֘וּמ֤וֹ | besumo | when set he | H7760 → | 584 times |
| לַיָּ֨ם׀ | laiyam | for the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| חֻקּ֗וֹ | chuko | limit its | H2706 → | 127 times |
| וּ֭מַיִם | umayim | and [the] waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַֽעַבְרוּ־ | yaavru- | they will transgress | H5674 → | 556 times |
| פִ֑יו | fiv | mouth his | H6310 → | 498 times |
| בְּ֝חוּק֗וֹ | bechuko | when marked out he | H2710 → | 19 times |
| מ֣וֹסְדֵי | mosdei | [the] foundations of | H4144 → | |
| אָֽרֶץ׃ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
בְּשׂ֘וּמ֤וֹwhen set he
besumoH7760 →584 times
לַיָּ֨ם׀for the sea
laiyamH3220 →396 times
חֻקּ֗וֹlimit its
chukoH2706 →127 times
וּ֭מַיִםand [the] waters
umayimH4325 →581 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יַֽעַבְרוּ־they will transgress
yaavru-H5674 →556 times
פִ֑יוmouth his
fivH6310 →498 times
בְּ֝חוּק֗וֹwhen marked out he
bechukoH2710 →19 times
מ֣וֹסְדֵי[the] foundations of
mosdeiH4144 →
אָֽרֶץ׃[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 5:22Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves…
it leads to
- Job 38:10–11
when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 26:10
He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 104:9
You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.
- Deuteronomy 28:58
If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—
- Psalms 119:120
My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
- Job 38:10–11
Through
Psalms 33:7He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses.
it leads to
- Exodus 15:8
At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
- Joshua 3:16
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
- Joshua 3:13
When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will…
- Exodus 15:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; GK Chesterton, Alarms and Discursions, The Garden of the Sea (1910); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 3 -- On Faith.