Psalms 104:7
in Psalms 104At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away
KJV
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
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This verse in Psalms 104
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAt thy rebuke they fled,.... The depths of water that covered the earth fled, went off apace, when Christ, the essential Word, gave the word of command that they should; saying, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so", Gen 1:9 and this being called a "rebuke", suggests as if there was something amiss, irregular and disorderly, and to be amended; as if these waters were not in their proper place.
This site's exposition
He set the earth on its foundations
on Psalms 104:5-9
The waters once stood over the mountains. A rebuke and a peal of thunder drove them off, the mountains rose, the valleys sank, the sea was given a boundary it cannot cross. That boundary is the promise of Genesis 9:11, that no flood will cover the earth again.
This site's exposition
At Your rebuke the waters fled
Genesis 1:9 tells the same moment as a command, the waters gathered into one place. Psalm 29:3 hears the voice of the LORD thundering over the waters. At Mark 4:39 Jesus rebuked the wind, and the sea fell calm.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God · Written before 523.
proposed
"He looketh upon the earth, and it trembleth, He rebuketh the mountains, and they smoke." And again [the Book] saith, "At Thy rebuke they flee, and at the voice of Thy thunders they are afraid." And behold, according to the word of the Prophet, the …
At your rebuke they shall flee. And truly at God's command the water withdrew, and the earth appeared, as is also written in Genesis: "And God gathered the waters into one gathering." At the voice of your thunder they shall be afraid. For the thunder is the voice of the Lord. For he gave the command, and the waters were separated.
"From Your rebuke they shall fly" [Psalm 104:7]. And this was done, brethren; from God's rebuke the waters did fly; that is, they went back from pressing on the mountains. Now the mountains themselves stand forth, Peter and Paul: how do they tower! They who before were pressed down by persecutors, now are venerated by emperors. For the waters are fled from the rebuke of God; because "the heart of kings is in the hand of God, He has bent it whither He would;" [Proverbs 21:1] He commanded peace to be given by them to the Christians; the authority of the Apostles sprang up and towered high....The waters fled from the rebuke of God. "From the voice of Your thunder they shall be afraid." Now who is there that would not be afraid, from the voice of God through the Apostles, the voice of God through the Scriptures, through His clouds? The sea is quieted, the waters have been made afraid, the mountains have been laid bare, the emperor has given the order. But who would have given the order, unless God had thundered? Because God willed, they commanded, and it was done. Therefore let no one of men arrogate anything to himself.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Even those fluid bodies received the impression of God's terror. But was the Lord displeased against the rivers? No; it was for the salvation of his people, Hab. iii.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
These verses rather describe the wonders of the flood than the creation (Ge 7:19, 20; God's method of arresting the flood and making its waters subside is poetically called a "rebuke" (Ps 76:6; Isa 50:2), and the process of the flood's subsiding by undulations among the hills and valleys is vividly described.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. When the waters and vapours covered all, the Lord had but to speak and they disappeared at once. As though they had been intelligent agents the waves hurried to their appointed deeps and left the land to itself; then the mountains lifted their heads, the high lands rose from the main, and at length continents and islands, slopes and plains were left to form the habitable earth. The voice of the Lord effected this great marvel. Is not his word equal to every emergency? potent enough to work the greatest miracle? By that same word shall the waterfloods of trouble be restrained, and the raging billows of sin be rebuked: the day cometh when at the thunder of Jehovah's voice all the proud waters of evil shall utterly haste away. "O Lord, my God, thou art very great."
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. When the waters and vapours covered all, the Lord had but to speak and they disappeared at once. As though they had been intelligent agents the waves hurried to their appointed deeps and left the land to itself; then the mountains lifted their heads, the high lands rose from the main, and at length continents and islands, slopes and plains were left to form the habitable earth. The voice of the Lord effected this great marvel. Is not his word equal to every emergency?
At thy rebuke they fled - When God separated the waters which were above the firmament from those below, and caused the dry land to appear. He commanded the separation to take place; and the waters, as if instinct with life, hastened to obey. At the voice of thy thunder - It is very likely God employed the electric fluid as an agent in this separation.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
At thy rebuke they fled - At thy command; or when thou didst speak to them. The Hebrew word also implies the notion of “rebuke,” or “reproof,” as if there were some displeasure or dissatisfaction. Pro 13:1; Pro 17:10; Ecc 7:5; Isa 30:17; Psa 76:6. It is “as if” God had been displeased that the waters prevented the appearing or the rising of the dry land, and had commanded them to “hasten” to their beds and channels, and no longer to cover the earth. The allusion is to Gen 1:9, and there is nowhere to be found a more sublime expression than this. Even the command, “And God said, Let there be light; and there was light,” so much commended by Longinus as an instance of sublimity, does not surpass this in grandeur. At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away - They fled in dismay. The Hebrew word - חפז châphaz - contains the idea of haste, trepidation, consternation, alarm, “as if” they were frightened; Psa 31:22. God spake in tones of thunder, and they fled. It is impossible to conceive anything more sublime than this.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| גַּעֲרָ֣תְךָ֣ | gaaratekha | rebuke your | H1606 → | 15 times |
| יְנוּס֑וּן | yenusun | they fled ! | H5127 → | 159 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| ק֥וֹל | kol | [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| רַֽ֝עַמְךָ֗ | raamkha | thunder your | H7482 → | 6 times |
| יֵחָפֵזֽוּן׃ | yechafezun | they hurried away ! | H2648 → | 9 times |
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
גַּעֲרָ֣תְךָ֣rebuke your
gaaratekhaH1606 →15 times
יְנוּס֑וּןthey fled !
yenusunH5127 →159 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
ק֥וֹל[the] sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
רַֽ֝עַמְךָ֗thunder your
raamkhaH7482 →6 times
יֵחָפֵזֽוּן׃they hurried away !
yechafezunH2648 →9 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
Genesis 8:1But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.
it leads to
- Genesis 30:22
Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
- Genesis 19:29
So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.
- Psalms 136:23
He remembered us in our low estate His loving devotion endures forever.
- Exodus 2:24
So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- 1 Samuel 1:19
The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered…
- Genesis 30:22
Through
Mark 4:39Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
it leads to
- Psalms 107:29
He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
- Psalms 89:9
You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.
- Psalms 29:10
The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
- Psalms 107:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God.