Psalms 95:4
in Psalms 95In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In his hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the mountains are his also.
KJV
In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
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This verse in Psalms 95
Commentary
10 notes on this verseFor our salvation the Son of God is made the Son of man. Nine months he awaits his birth in the womb, undergoes the most revolting conditions and comes forth covered with blood, to be swathed in rags and covered with caresses. "He who clasps the world in his fist" is contained in the narrow limits of a manger. I say nothing of the thirty years during which he lives in obscurity, satisfied with the poverty of his parents. When he is scourged, he holds his peace; when he is crucified, he prays for his crucifiers.
This site's exposition
a great King above all gods
on Psalms 95:3-5
The reason for the summons is the LORD's rank, a great God, a great King over all other gods. Verses 4 and 5 pair the depths of the earth with the mountain peaks, and the sea with the dry land, bottom to top. All of it is in His hand.
This site's exposition
the depths of the earth
The depths are places no man has searched, and the peaks are heights no man has climbed. Both are in His hand. What lay out of Israel's reach lay within His.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
What does the Psalm add? "In His hand are all the corners of the earth" [Psalm 95:4]: we recognise the corner stone: the corner stone is Christ. There cannot be a corner, unless it has united in itself two walls: they come from different sides to one corner, but they are not opposed to each other in the corner. The circumcision comes from one side: the uncircumcision from the other; in Christ both peoples have met together: because He has become the stone, of which it is written, "The stone which the builders rejected, has become the head of the corner.". ..
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); even the deep places of the earth, which are out of our sight, subterraneous springs and mines, are in his hand; and the height of the hills which are out of our reach, whatever grows or feeds upon them, is his also.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
In his hand are the deep places of the earth,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
In his hand are the deep places of the earth. He is the God of the valleys and the hills, the caverns, and the peaks. Far down where the miners sink their shafts, deeper yet where lie the secret oceans by which springs are fed, and deepest of all in the unknown abyss where rage and flame the huge central fires of earth, there Jehovah's power is felt, and all things are under the dominion of his hand. As princes hold the mimic globe in their hands, so does the Lord in very deed hold the earth.
In his hand are the deep places of the earth. He is the God of the valleys and the hills, the caverns, and the peaks. Far down where the miners sink their shafts, deeper yet where lie the secret oceans by which springs are fed, and deepest of all in the unknown abyss where rage and flame the huge central fires of earth, there Jehovah's power is felt, and all things are under the dominion of his hand. As princes hold the mimic globe in their hands, so does the Lord in very deed hold the earth. When Israel drank of the crystal fount which welled up from the great deep, below the smitten rock, the people knew that in the Lord's hands were the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is his also. When Sinai was altogether on a smoke the tribes learned that Jehovah was God of the hills as well as of the valleys. Everywhere and at all times is this true; the Lord rules upon the high places of the earth in lonely majesty. The vast foundations, the gigantic spurs, the incalculable masses, the untrodden heights of the mountains are all the Lord's. These are his fastnesses and treasure houses, where he stores the tempest and the rain; whence also he pours the ice torrents and looses the avalanches. The granite peaks and adamantine aiguilles are his, and his the precipices and the beetling crags. Strength is the main thought which strikes the mind when gazing on those vast ramparts of cliff which front the raging sea, or peer into the azure sky, piercing the clouds, but it is to the devout mind the strength of God; hints of Omnipotence are given by those stern rocks which brave the fury of the elements, and like walls of brass defy the assaults of nature in her wildest rage.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
In his hand are the deep places of the earth - The greatest deeps are fathomed by him. The strength of the hills is his also - And to him the greatest heights are accessible,
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In his hand - In his power, or under his control as his own. That is, he so possesses all things that they can be claimed by no other. His right over them is absolute and entire. Are the deep places of the earth - The word used here - מחקר mechqâr - means the interior, the inmost depth; that which is “searched out,” from - חקר châqar - to search, search out, explore. The primary idea is that of searching by boring or digging; and the allusion here is to the parts of the earth which could be explored only by digging - as in mining, or sinking shafts in the earth. The meaning is, that all those places which lie beyond the ordinary power of observation in man are in the hand of God. He knows them as clearly as those which are most plain to human view; he possesses or owns them as his own as really as he does those which are on the surface of the ground. The strength of the hills is his also - Margin, “The heights of the hills are his.” The word rendered “strength” - תועפות tô‛âphôth - means properly swiftness or speed in running; then, weariness, wearisome labor; and hence, wealth obtained by labor; “treasures.” Here the expression means “treasures of the mountains;” that is, treasures obtained out of the mountains, the precious metals, etc. Compare the notes at Job 22:25, where the same word occurs. All this belongs to God. As he is the Maker of these hills, and of all that they contain, the absolute proprietorship is in him.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and the heights An expression of height, like a bird that flies [up high].
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. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּ֭יָדוֹ | beyado | [are] in hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| מֶחְקְרֵי־ | mechkerei- | [the] depths of | H4278 → | |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְתוֹעֲפ֖וֹת | vetoafot | and [the] peaks of | H8443 → | |
| הָרִ֣ים | harim | [the] mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | [belong] to him |
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּ֭יָדוֹ[are] in hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 times
מֶחְקְרֵי־[the] depths of
mechkerei-H4278 →
אָ֑רֶץ[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
וְתוֹעֲפ֖וֹתand [the] peaks of
vetoafotH8443 →
הָרִ֣ים[the] mountains
harimH2022 →546 times
לֽוֹ׃[belong] to him
lo
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
Psalms 135:6The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
it leads to
- Daniel 4:35
All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain…
- Psalms 115:3
Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.
- Matthew 28:18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
- Matthew 8:26–27
“You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.
- Isaiah 46:10
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Daniel 4:35
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
- Jeremiah 4:24
I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 4:24
Through
Habakkuk 3:6He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.
it leads to
- Genesis 49:26
The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince…
- Genesis 49:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 95; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, LETTER 22.39; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.