Psalms 74:13
in Psalms 74You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: Thou brakest the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.
KJV
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
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This verse in Psalms 74
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThou didst divide the sea by thy strength,.... This and the following instances from hence to Psa 74:18 are proofs of God's working salvation in the midst of the earth; some of them seem peculiar to the people of Israel, and others are benefits common to mankind in general; which the church makes use of to encourage her faith and hope, in expectation of salvation, and deliverance out of her present distressed and melancholy circumstances.
This site's exposition
God is my King from ancient times
on Psalms 74:12-15
The psalm turns to what God has already done: the sea divided, the heads of the dragons smashed, Leviathan crushed. Isaiah 51:9 and 10 use the same pictures of Rahab and the dragon for Egypt at the Red Sea. The fountain and the flood belong there too.
This site's exposition
You divided the sea by Your strength
Albert Barnes gave divided as literally broke, as if God shattered the strength of the sea itself. John Gill counted this and the verses after it as proofs of the salvation named in verse 12. The Red Sea comes first.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now therefore, O Asaph, amend yourself according to your understanding, tell us what sort of Salvation God has wrought in the midst of the earth. When that earthly Salvation of yours was overthrown, what did He do, what did He promise? "You confirmed in Your virtue the sea" [Psalm 74:13]. As though the nation of the Jews were as it were dry land severed from the waves, the Gentiles in their bitterness were the sea, and on all sides they washed about that land: behold, "You have confirmed in Your virtue the sea," and the land remained thirsting for Your rain. "You have confirmed in Your virtue the sea, You have broken in pieces the heads of dragons in the water." Dragons' heads, that is, demons' pride, wherewith the Gentiles were possessed, You have broken in pieces upon the water: for those persons whom they were possessing, You by Baptism have delivered.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Examples of the "salvation wrought" are cited. divide the sea--that is, Red Sea. brakest . . . waters--Pharaoh and his host (compare Isa 51:9, 10;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Having spread the sad case before the Lord, the pleader now urges another series of arguments for divine help. He reasons from the Lord's former wonders of grace, and his deeds of power, imploring a repetition of the same divine works.
Thou didst divide the sea - When our fathers came from Egypt. Thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters - Pharaoh, his captains, and all his hosts were drowned in the Red Sea, when attempting to pursue them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength - Margin, as in Hebrew, “break.” That is, he had by his power “broken up” the strength of the sea so that it offered no resistance to their passing through it. The allusion is evidently to the passage through the Red Sea, Exo 14:21. Thou brakest the heads of the dragons - Margin, “whales.” On the meaning of the word used here - תנין tannı̂yn - see the notes at Isa 13:22; notes at Job 30:29. It refers here, undoubtedly, to crocodiles or sea monsters. The language here is used to denote the absolute power of God as manifested over the sea when the people of Israel passed through it. It was as if by slaying all the mighty monsters of the deep that would have resisted their passage, he had made their transit entirely safe. In the waters - That reside in the waters of the sea.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
the beads of the sea monsters They are the Egyptians, who are called sea monsters, as it is said (Ezek.:3): “the great sea monster, etc.”
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
But God is my King from time immemorial Behold, You were our salvation from time immemorial.
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. 5 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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַתָּ֤ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| פוֹרַ֣רְתָּ | forarta | you divided | H6565 → | 50 times |
| בְעָזְּךָ֣ | veazekha | by strength your | H5797 → | 92 times |
| יָ֑ם | yam | [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| שִׁבַּ֖רְתָּ | shibarta | you shattered | H7665 → | 147 times |
| רָאשֵׁ֥י | rashei | [the] heads of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| תַ֝נִּינִ֗ים | taninim | sea monsters | H8577 → | 28 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמָּֽיִם׃ | hamayim | the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
אַתָּ֤הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
פוֹרַ֣רְתָּyou divided
forartaH6565 →50 times
בְעָזְּךָ֣by strength your
veazekhaH5797 →92 times
יָ֑ם[the] sea
yamH3220 →396 times
שִׁבַּ֖רְתָּyou shattered
shibartaH7665 →147 times
רָאשֵׁ֥י[the] heads of
rasheiH7218 →599 times
תַ֝נִּינִ֗יםsea monsters
taninimH8577 →28 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַמָּֽיִם׃the waters
hamayimH4325 →581 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
Exodus 14:21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were…
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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 66:6
He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 63:12
who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown,
- Nehemiah 9:11
You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.
- Isaiah 51:10
Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?
- Exodus 15:8
Through
Ezekiel 32:2“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
- Ezekiel 29:3
Through
Ezekiel 29:3Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 27:1
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
- Ezekiel 32:2
“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash…
- Isaiah 27:1
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 74; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).