Psalms 68:16
in Psalms 68Why do you gaze in envy, O mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain God chose for His dwelling, where the LORD will surely dwell forever.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Why look ye askance, ye high mountains, At the mountain which God hath desired for his abode? Yea, Jehovah will dwell in it for ever.
KJV
Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever.
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This verse in Psalms 68
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhy do you suppose the curdled mountains? This he says to the Jews, who think that Moses and the prophets are like the Savior. The mountain in which it is well pleasing to God to dwell. It signifies the fleshly presence of the Savior, that the deity dwelt in a body: for in no other did the Holy Spirit dwell continuously, except in the Savior, John saying, "He upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he."
This site's exposition
A mountain of God is Mount Bashan
on Psalms 68:15-16
Mount Bashan east of the Jordan is a range of many peaks. Verse 16 asks why those peaks gaze in envy, and the answer is the choice itself: God chose this mountain for His dwelling. The LORD will surely dwell there forever.
This site's exposition
Why do you gaze in envy
The verb for gaze in envy occurs only here. Albert Barnes draws on its Arabic sense, to watch closely, so the peaks eye the smaller hill of Zion askance. John Wesley draws the lesson a hill despised by the mountains is precious to God, who chose it for His dwelling.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Secondly, in the expression, "Mountain of God, Mountain full of curds," Mountain "fruitful," let no one dare from this to compare the Lord Jesus Christ with the rest of the Saints, who are themselves also called mountains of God. ...For there were not wanting men to call Him, some John Baptist, some Elias, some Jeremias, or one of the Prophets; He turneth to them and saith, "Why do ye imagine mountains full of curds, a mountain," he saith, "wherein it hath pleased God to dwell therein"? "Why do ye imagine?" For as they are a light, because to themselves also hath been said, "Ye are the Light of the world," but something different hath been called "the true Light which enlighteneth every man." so they are mountains; but far different is the Mountain "prepared on the top of the mountains." These mountains therefore in bearing that Mountain are glorious: one of which mountains saith, "but from me far be it to glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom to me the world hath been crucified, and I to the world:" so that "he hath glorieth, not in himself, but in the Lord may glory." "Why" then "do ye imagine mountains full of curds," that "Mountain wherein it hath pleased God to dwell therein"? Not because in other men He dwelleth not, but because in them through Him. "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead," not in a shadow, as in the temple made by king Solomon, but "bodily," that is, solidly and truly. ..."For there is One God, and One Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," Mountain of mountains, as Saint of saints. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
22 ), and this is intimated here, when he said, The Lord will dwell in it for ever, which must have its accomplishment in the gospel Zion. There is no kingdom in the world comparable to the kingdom of the Redeemer, no city comparable to that which is incorporated by the gospel charter, for there God dwells and will dwell for ever.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Leap - Why do you triumph and look upon Zion with contempt? He speaks to the hills by an usual figure. Will dwell - This hill, though despicable in your eyes, is precious in God's, and chosen by him for his perpetual residence.
Why leap ye, ye high hills?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Why leap ye, ye high hills? Why are ye moved to envy? Envy as ye may, the Lord's choice is fixed. Lift up yourselves, and even leap from your seats, ye cannot reach the sublimity which Jehovah's presence has bestowed on the little hill of Moriah. This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in. Elohim makes Zion his abode, yea, Jehovah resides there. Yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever. Spiritually the Lord abides eternally in Zion, his chosen church, and it was Zion's glory to be typical thereof. What were Carmel and Sirion, with all their height, compared to Zion, the joy of the whole earth! God's election is a patent of nobility. They are choice men whom God has chosen, and that place is superlatively honoured which he honours with his presence.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Why leap ye, ye high hills? Why are ye moved to envy? Envy as ye may, the Lord's choice is fixed. Lift up yourselves, and even leap from your seats, ye cannot reach the sublimity which Jehovah's presence has bestowed on the little hill of Moriah. This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in. Elohim makes Zion his abode, yea, Jehovah resides there. Yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever. Spiritually the Lord abides eternally in Zion, his chosen church, and it was Zion's glory to be typical thereof.
Why leap ye, ye high hills? - “God said, Why leap ye, ye high hills? It is not pleasing to me to give my law upon high and towering hills. Behold, Mount Sinai is low; and the Word of the Lord has desired to place on it the Divine majesty. Moreover, the Lord dwells for ever in the heaven of heavens.” - Targum. The psalmist is speaking particularly of the mountains of Judea, and those of Gilead; the former were occupied by the Canaanites, and the others by Og, king of Bashan, and Sihon, king of the Amorites, whom Moses defeated.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Why leap ye, ye high hills? - That is, with exultation; with pride; with conscious superiority. Why do you seem to regard yourselves as so superior to Mount Zion, in strength, in beauty, in grandeur? The Hebrew, however - רצד râtsad - rather means, “Why do ye watch insidiously? why do ye look askance at?” The word occurs only in this place. In Arabic it means to watch closely; to lie in wait for. This is the idea here. The mountains around Palestine - the mountains of the pagan world - the lofty hills - as if conscious of their grandeur, are represented as looking “askance,” in their pride, at Mount Zion; as eyeing it with silent contempt, as if it were not worthy of notice; as if it were so insignificant that it had no claim to attention. The idea is not that of “leaping,” as in our English Bible, or of “hopping,” as in the version of the Episcopal Prayer Book, but that of a look of silent disdain, as if, by their side, Zion, so insignificant, was not worthy of regard. “Perhaps,” by the high hills here, however, are disguisedly also represented the mighty powers of the pagan world, as if looking with contempt on the people of the land where Zion was the place of worship. This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in - The hill which “he” has selected as his abode, and which “he” has honored above all the mountains of the earth, by his permanent residence there. As such, Zion has an honor above the loftiest hills and ranges of mountains in the earth. Yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever - Permanently; he will make it his fixed habitation on earth. Not-withstanding the envy or the contempt of surrounding hills, he will make this his settled abode. He has chosen it; he delights in it; he will not forsake it for the mountains and hills that are in themselves more grand and lofty.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָ֤מָּה׀ | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תְּֽרַצְּדוּן֮ | teratzedun | do you watch with envy ! | H7520 → | |
| הָרִ֪ים | harim | O mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| גַּבְנֻ֫נִּ֥ים | gavnunim | peaks | H1386 → | |
| הָהָ֗ר | hahar | the mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| חָמַ֣ד | chamad | [which] he desired | H2530 → | 25 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֣ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְשִׁבְתּ֑וֹ | leshivto | to dwell in he | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יִשְׁכֹּ֥ן | yishkon | he will dwell | H7931 → | 129 times |
| לָנֶֽצַח׃ | lanetzach | to perpetuity | H5331 → | 43 times |
לָ֤מָּה׀<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
תְּֽרַצְּדוּן֮do you watch with envy !
teratzedunH7520 →
הָרִ֪יםO mountains
harimH2022 →546 times
גַּבְנֻ֫נִּ֥יםpeaks
gavnunimH1386 →
הָהָ֗רthe mountain
haharH2022 →546 times
חָמַ֣ד[which] he desired
chamadH2530 →25 times
אֱלֹהִ֣יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
לְשִׁבְתּ֑וֹto dwell in he
leshivtoH3427 →1079 times
אַף־also
ʾaf-H637 →134 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
יִשְׁכֹּ֥ןhe will dwell
yishkonH7931 →129 times
לָנֶֽצַח׃to perpetuity
lanetzachH5331 →43 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
Deuteronomy 12:5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:11
then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all…
- 2 Chronicles 7:12
the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
- Deuteronomy 26:2
you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go…
- Deuteronomy 16:2
You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.
- 1 Kings 8:29
May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays…
- Deuteronomy 12:11
Through
Deuteronomy 12:11then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 15:20
Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.
- Deuteronomy 12:5
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Deuteronomy 16:2–8
You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.
- Deuteronomy 15:20
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 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 68; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jerome, Homily 7, on Psalm 67; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.