Psalms 104:13
in Psalms 104He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He watereth the mountains from his chambers: The earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.
KJV
He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
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This verse in Psalms 104
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHe watereth the hills from his chambers,.... The house of his superior treasures, as the Targum. The airy regions, Psa 104:3 with the clouds of heaven, by the rain which they drop down upon them; the usefulness of which blessings of nature is largely described in this and some following verses. "The hills", which are naturally dry and barren, and receive but little advantage from the springs, fountains, and rivers below, are supplied with water from above; and become fruitful, bear herbage, and are clothed with flocks.
This site's exposition
He sends forth springs in the valleys
on Psalms 104:10-13
The springs run where no man dug them, and every beast of the field drinks. The wild donkey is named too, an animal that serves nobody and drinks all the same. Birds nest beside the springs and sing in the branches.
This site's exposition
He waters the mountains from His chambers
The chambers are the upper rooms of verse 3. Springs water the valleys and rain from those rooms waters the heights. Deuteronomy 11:11 describes the promised land as hills and valleys that drink the rain of heaven.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Watering the mountains from the higher places" [Psalm 104:13]. Now if a Gentile uncircumcised man comes to us, about to believe in Christ, we give him baptism, and do not call him back to those works of the Law. And if a Jew asks us why we do that, we sound from the rock, we say, This Peter did, this Paul did: from the midst of the rocks we give our voice. But that rock, Peter himself, that great mountain, when he prayed and saw that vision, was watered from above. ..."From the fruit of Thy works shall the earth be satisfied." What is, "From the fruit of Thy works"? Let no man glory in his own works: but "he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." With Thy grace he is satisfied, when he is satisfied: let him not say that grace was given for his own merits. If it is called grace, "it is gratuitously given;" if it is returned for works, wages are paid. Freely therefore receive, because ungodly thou art justified.
From the fruit of your works the earth shall be filled. In another sense: from all your benefits the earth shall be filled. In another sense: from your works, that is, your apostles, many have been filled.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Once destructive, these waters are subjected to the service of God's creatures. In rain and dew from His chambers (compare Ps 104:3), and fountains and streams, they give drink to thirsting animals and fertilize the soil.
He watereth the hills from his chambers. As the mountains are too high to be watered by rivers and brooks, the Lord himself refreshes them from those waters above the firmament which the poet had in a former verse described as the upper chambers of heaven. Clouds are detained among the mountain crags, and deluge the hill sides with fertilizing rain. Where man cannot reach the Lord can, whom none else can water with grace he can, and where all stores of refreshment fail he can supply all that is needed from his own halls. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. The result of the divine working is fulness everywhere, the soil is saturated with rain, the seed germinates, the beasts drink, and the birds sing—nothing is left without supplies. So, too, is it in the new creation, he giveth more grace, he fills his people with good, and makes them all confess, "of his fulness have all we received and grace for grace."
He watereth the hills from his chambers. As the mountains are too high to be watered by rivers and brooks, the Lord himself refreshes them from those waters above the firmament which the poet had in a former verse described as the upper chambers of heaven. Clouds are detained among the mountain crags, and deluge the hill sides with fertilizing rain. Where man cannot reach the Lord can, whom none else can water with grace he can, and where all stores of refreshment fail he can supply all that is needed from his own halls.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
From his chambers - The clouds, as in Psa 104:3. The earth is satisfied - The inhabitants of it.
From his chambers - The clouds, as in Psa 104:3. The earth is satisfied - The inhabitants of it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He watereth the hills from his chambers - The waters, as stated before, run in the valleys - in the natural channels made for them among the hills, Psa 104:10. But still, it was a fact that the hills themselves were watered; that there were springs far up their heights; and that vegetation was sustained above the reach of the fountains and streams below; and it was a proof of the divine skill and beneficence that, in some way, water was furnished on the summits and sides of the hills themselves. This was caused, the psalmist says, by God’s pouring water on them, as it were, from his own “chambers” - his abode on high. The allusion is, doubtless, to rain, which seems to be poured down from the very abode of God. The word rendered “chambers” means “upper rooms,” (see the notes at Psa 104:3); and the reference is to the dwelling-place of God, as far above the earth. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works - Thy doings; with what thou hast done. All the needs of the earth seem to be met and “satisfied;” all that it could desire to make it fertile and beautiful; and the proper abode of man, of beast, and of fowl, has been granted. It has no cause of complaint; nothing has been left undone, in the valleys or on the hills, on the dry land or in the waters, that was needful to be done to carry out the purpose for which it has been called into being.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Beside them the fowl of the heavens dwell Beside the springs.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַשְׁקֶ֣ה | mashkeh | [he is] watering | H8248 → | 61 times |
| הָ֭רִים | harim | mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| מֵעֲלִיּוֹתָ֑יו | mealiyotav | from upper rooms his | H5944 → | |
| מִפְּרִ֥י | miperi | from [the] fruit of | H6529 → | 119 times |
| מַ֝עֲשֶׂ֗יךָ | maaseikha | works your | H4639 → | 236 times |
| תִּשְׂבַּ֥ע | tisba' | it is satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
מַשְׁקֶ֣ה[he is] watering
mashkehH8248 →61 times
הָ֭רִיםmountains
harimH2022 →546 times
מֵעֲלִיּוֹתָ֑יוfrom upper rooms his
mealiyotavH5944 →
מִפְּרִ֥יfrom [the] fruit of
miperiH6529 →119 times
מַ֝עֲשֶׂ֗יךָworks your
maaseikhaH4639 →236 times
תִּשְׂבַּ֥עit is satisfied
tisba'H7646 →97 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the earth
haaretzH776 →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 14:22Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have…
it leads to
- Psalms 135:7
He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joel 2:23
Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as…
- Jeremiah 5:24
They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
- Isaiah 30:23
Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will…
- Psalms 135:7
Through
Deuteronomy 11:11But the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven.
it leads to
- Hebrews 6:7
For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.
- Deuteronomy 8:7–9
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;
- Psalms 65:12–13
The pastures of the wilderness overflow; the hills are robed with joy.
- Genesis 27:28
May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.
- Hebrews 6:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 104; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 30, on Psalm 103; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.