Psalms 46:3
in Psalms 46though their waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. Selah
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, Though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof. [Selah
KJV
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
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This verse in Psalms 46
Commentary
12 notes on this verse"They roared and the waters were troubled." Here he shows what these tribulations are. And first, he proposes them in metaphor. Second, he explains. He says therefore, "They roared and their waters were troubled." According to Jerome, "its waters." And this is the better reading; …
This site's exposition
ever-present help in times of trouble
on Psalms 46:1-3
Ever-present help in times of trouble is what the psalm calls God in its first line. The worst it can picture follows, the earth shaken and the mountains thrown into the depths of the sea. Therefore we will not fear is the answer it gives.
This site's exposition
their waters roar and foam
Barnes gave the Hebrew word behind foam as boiling, the sea lashed in a storm. Clarke took the waters as peoples in uproar and the mountains as rulers who quake. The nations rage in verse 6.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The waters thereof roared, and were troubled" [Psalm 46:3]: when the Gospel was preached, "What is this? He seems to be a setter forth of strange gods:" [Acts 17:18] this the Athenians; but the Ephesians, with what tumult would they have slain the Apostles, when in the theatre, for their goddess Diana, they made such an uproar, as to be shouting, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" [Acts 19:34] Amidst which waves and roaring of the sea, feared not they who to that refuge had fled. Nay, the Apostle Paul would enter in to the theatre, and was kept back by the disciples, because it was necessary that he should still abide in the flesh for their sakes. But yet, "the waters thereof roared, and were troubled: the mountains shook at the mightiness thereof." Whose might? The sea's? Or rather God's, of whom was said, "refuge and strength, a helper in tribulations, which have found us out too much?" For shaken were the mountains, that is, the powers of this world. For one thing are the mountains of God, another the mountains of the world: the mountains of the world, they whose head is the devil, the mountains of God, they whose Head is Christ. But by these mountains were shaken those mountains. Then gave they their voices against Christians, when the mountains were shaken, the waters roaring; for the mountains were shaken, and there was made a great earthquake, with quaking of the sea. But against whom this? Against the City founded upon a rock. The waters roar, the mountains shake, the Gospel being preached. What then, the City of God? Hear what follows.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,.... The noise of which causes men's hearts to fail them for fear, Luk 21:25; though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. All these figurative expressions denote the hurlyburlies, confusions, and disorders that have been or will be in the world; amidst all which the people of God have no reason to fear; for it is always well with the righteous, let it go how it will with others.
Let those be troubled at the troubling of the waters who build their confidence on such a floating foundation, but not those who are led to the rock that is higher than they, and find firm footing upon that rock. How well-grounded the defiance of this danger is, considering how well guarded the church is, and that interest which we are concerned for.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled. When all things are excited to fury, and reveal their utmost power to disturb, faith smiles serenely. She is not afraid of noise, nor even of real force, she knows that the Lord stilleth the raging of the sea, and holdeth the waves in the hollow of his hand. Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Alps and Andes may tremble, but faith rests on a firmer basis, and is not to be moved by swelling seas.
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled. When all things are excited to fury, and reveal their utmost power to disturb, faith smiles serenely. She is not afraid of noise, nor even of real force, she knows that the Lord stilleth the raging of the sea, and holdeth the waves in the hollow of his hand. Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Alps and Andes may tremble, but faith rests on a firmer basis, and is not to be moved by swelling seas. Evil may ferment, wrath may boil, and pride may foam, but the brave heart of holy confidence trembles not. Great men who are like mountains may quake for fear in times of great calamity, but the man whose trust is in God needs never to be dismayed. Selah. In the midst of such a hurly burly the music may well come to a pause, both to give the singers breath, and ourselves time for meditation. We are in no hurry, but can sit us down and wait while earth dissolves, and mountains rock, and oceans roar. Ours is not the headlong rashness which passes for courage, we can calmly confront the danger, and meditate upon terror, dwelling on its separate items and united forces. The pause is not an exclamation of dismay, but merely a rest in music; we do not suspend our song in alarm, but tune our harps again with deliberation amidst the tumult of the storm. It were well if all of us could say, Selah, under tempestuous trials, but alas! too often we speak in our haste, lay our trembling hands bewildered among the strings, strike the lyre with a rude crash, and mar the melody of our life song.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
THIS Psalm is a song for all Israel—for all who are truly the chosen of God, called to be His own people—should exhibit a fearless courage. The peace of God which passes all understanding should keep the hearts and minds of all who rest in God. If, indeed, the Lord is our refuge and strength, we are entitled to seek after a spirit which shall bear us above the dreads of common men. It is not every man that can sing this Psalm—he must belong to the believing company, he must have God to be his God—and he must, like Israel, have learned the art of prevailing prayer, or else he cannot sing the song of peace amid commotion and calamity. No man can truly sing this Psalm but those who are redeemed from the earth. While this is a Psalm for all Israel, it is specially marked as committed to the charge of the sons of Korah. Korah, Dathan and Abiram perished because of their presumption—they went down alive into the pit—and the earth closed upon them. They and all that appertained unto them were swallowed up. But we are astonished to read, "Notwithstanding, the children of Korah died not." I attribute their singular escape to the Sovereign Grace of God who spared them when their kinsmen were destroyed. They were made singers in the courts of the Lord and surely they would sing with peculiar emphasis these words, "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed." They saw the earth open her mouth and swallow up the offenders of their household while they were preserved by Sovereign Grace. Surely the tears must have stood in their eyes when they sang this verse and thought of the opening gulf at their feet. The circumstance under which a man is saved will influence the rest of his life.
THIS Psalm is a song for all Israel—for all who are truly the chosen of God, called to be His own people—should exhibit a fearless courage. The peace of God which passes all understanding should keep the hearts and minds of all who rest in God. If, indeed, the Lord is our refuge and strength, we are entitled to seek after a spirit which shall bear us above the dreads of common men.
Though the waters thereof roar - Waters, in prophetic language, signify people; and, generally, people in a state of political commotion, here signified by the term roar. And by these strong agitations of the people, the mountains - the secular rulers, shake with the swelling thereof - tremble, for fear that these popular tumults should terminate in the subversion of the state. This very people had seen all Asia in a state of war. The Persians had overturned Asia Minor, and destroyed the Babylonian empire: they had seen Babylon itself sacked and entered by the Persians; and Cyrus, its conqueror, had behaved to them as a father and deliverer. While their oppressors were destroyed, themselves were preserved, and permitted to return to their own land.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled - The waters of the sea. The idea is, that they would not be afraid though everything should be in commotion, and be as unsettled as the restless waves of the ocean. The earth might be changed, the mountains removed, the agitated sea roar and dash against the shore, but their minds would be calm. The word rendered “be troubled” means to boil; to ferment; to foam; and here it refers to the ocean as agitated and lashed into foam. Nothing is more sublime and fearful than the ocean in a storm; nothing furnishes a better illustration of the peace produced by confidence in God amid the agitations which occur in the world, than the mind of a seaman that is calm when the ocean is heaved in wild commotion. Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof - The rolling ocean breaking against; the sides of the mountains on its shore, and seeming to shake them to their foundation. The word rendered “swelling” means properly majesty, glory; then pride, haughtiness, insolence. Literally, “though the mountains tremble through their pride.” Compare Psa 124:5. On the word “Selah,” see the notes at Psa 3:2.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
when the earth changes in the future, on the day concerning which Scripture states (Isa.: 6): “and the earth shall rot away like a garment.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֶהֱמ֣וּ | yehemu | they will roar | H1993 → | 34 times |
| יֶחְמְר֣וּ | yechmeru | they will foam | H2560 → | |
| מֵימָ֑יו | meimav | waters its | H4325 → | 581 times |
| יִֽרְעֲשֽׁוּ־ | yirashu- | they will shake | H7493 → | 30 times |
| הָרִ֖ים | harim | mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| בְּגַאֲוָת֣וֹ | begaavato | at swelling its | H1346 → | 19 times |
| סֶֽלָה׃ | selah | Selah | H5542 → | 74 times |
יֶהֱמ֣וּthey will roar
yehemuH1993 →34 times
יֶחְמְר֣וּthey will foam
yechmeruH2560 →
מֵימָ֑יוwaters its
meimavH4325 →581 times
יִֽרְעֲשֽׁוּ־they will shake
yirashu-H7493 →30 times
הָרִ֖יםmountains
harimH2022 →546 times
בְּגַאֲוָת֣וֹat swelling its
begaavatoH1346 →19 times
סֶֽלָה׃Selah
selahH5542 →74 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,
- Psalms 104:9
You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.
- Job 26:10
He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.
- 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—
- Proverbs 8:29
when 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.
- Job 38:10–11
Through
Micah 1:4The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
it leads to
- Nahum 1:5
The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
- Psalms 97:5
The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
- Nahum 1:5
Through
Nahum 1:5The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
it leads to
- Micah 1:4
The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
- Micah 1:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 46; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1950: “Earthquake But Not Heartquake” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.