Psalm 24:2

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) Upon the seas.—For the idea of the earth resting on water, comp. Psalm 136:6; Proverbs 8:25-29. In Genesis the dry land emerges from the water, but is not said to be founded on it. In Job 26:7 the earth is said to be hung upon nothing. The idea of a water foundation for the earth naturally grew out of the phenomenon of springs, before it was scientifically explained.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 24:2. For he hath founded it — Justly have I said, that the earth is the Lord’s, for he made it, and laid the foundation of it, and that in a wonderful manner; upon the seas — By the seas and floods he means the whole collection of waters, as well the sea and rivers running into it as that great abyss of waters which is contained in the bowels of the earth. This is here mentioned as an evidence of God’s wise and gracious providence, that he hath erected so vast a building upon so weak a foundation as the waters are: for “the waters which, at the creation, and again at the deluge, overspread all things, being, by the power of God, driven down into the great deep, and there confined, the earth was, in a wonderful manner, constructed and established as a kind of circular arch upon, or over them.” — Horne.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:1-6 We ourselves are not our own; our bodies, our souls, are not. Even those of the children of men are God's, who know him not, nor own their relation to him. A soul that knows and considers its own nature, and that it must live for ever, when it has viewed the earth and the fulness thereof, will sit down unsatisfied. It will think of ascending toward God, and will ask, What shall I do, that I may abide in that happy, holy place, where he makes his people holy and happy? We make nothing of religion, if we do not make heart-work of it. We can only be cleansed from our sins, and renewed unto holiness, by the blood of Christ and the washing of the Holy Ghost. Thus we become his people; thus we receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of our salvation. God's peculiar people shall be made truly and for ever happy. Where God gives righteousness, he designs salvation. Those that are made meet for heaven, shall be brought safe to heaven, and will find what they have been seeking.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For he hath founded it upon the seas - That is, the earth, or the habitable world. The ground of the claim to the earth and all that it contains, which is here asserted, is the fact that God had created it, or "founded" it. The language used here - "he hath founded it," that is, he has laid the foundation of it, "upon the seas" and "the floods" - is in accordance with the usual mode of speaking of the earth in the Scriptures as laid upon a foundation - as a house is raised on a firm foundation. See the notes at Job 38:6. As the earth appeared to be surrounded by water, it was natural to speak of it as "founded" also upon the waters. There is probably an allusion here to the statement in Genesis 1:9-10, where the waters are said to have been so gathered together that the dry land appeared. Above all the waters the earth was established, so as to become the abode of plants, animals, and man.

And established it upon the floods - The streams; the torrents. The earth has been elevated above them, so as to be a residence for animals and for men. The essential thought is, that this earth has become what it is by the fact that God has founded it; and, therefore, what it produces belongs of right to Him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. Poetically represents the facts of Ge 1:9.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Justly have I said that the earth is the Lord’s, for he made it, and laid the foundation of it, and that in a wonderful manner. By the

seas and floods he means the whole collection of waters, as well the sea and rivers running into it, as that great abyss of waters which is contained in the bowels of the earth, of which see Genesis 7:11 49:25 2 Peter 3:5. This is here mentioned as an evidence of God’s wise, and powerful, and gracious providence, that he hath built so vast a building upon so weak a foundation as the waters are, Micah 6:2; and that although the waters are lighter than the earth, and therefore are naturally inclined to be above it, as they were at first; yet God hath so far overruled the inclinations of nature, that the waters shall as it were deny themselves, and run down into channels and caverns of the earth, that so the earth may be a convenient habitation for men and beasts. See Genesis 1:9 Exodus 20:4 Psalm 104:6.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For he hath founded it upon the seas,.... Or "with" them, as some interpret (e) the particle he hath founded the earth and seas together, and both upon nothing; and yet are stable and firm; or "by the seas" (f), near unto them, at the side of them; which, though higher than the earth, are wonderfully bounded by the power of God, so as not to return and cover the earth; see Job 38:8; so the particle is used in Psalm 1:3. Some have thought that the first earth, which Peter says was standing in the water, and out of the water, 2 Peter 3:5, was made in the form of an egg, and that the waters were under the earth, and the earth was as a crust or shell over them, until the deluge came; and this crust then broke in, and formed the sea; and so it was literally true, that the earth was founded upon, or over the waters;

and established it upon the floods; the floods of the seas, or rivers of water running to and fro in it: this shows the ground and foundation of Christ's right and claim to the earth, and all that is in it; which is not by reason of his father's gift to him as Mediator, but by virtue of his concern in creation, the world, and all things in it, being made and established by him; in him do all things consist, Colossians 1:16.

(e) R. Moses in Aben Ezra in loc. (f) "juxta maria", Vatablus, Gejerus, Amama; so Kimchi & Ben Melech.

Geneva Study Bible

For he hath founded it upon the {a} seas, and established it upon the floods.

(a) He notes two things: the one, that the earth to man's judgment seems above the waters: and next, that God miraculously preserves the earth, that it is not drowned with the waters, which naturally are above it.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. For he &c.] HE is emphatic. It is HE and no other who laid the foundation of the world (Psalm 104:5; Job 38:4). The land rising out of the water is supposed to rest upon it. Cp. Psalm 136:6; and the idea of the subterranean abyss of waters in Genesis 7:11; and “the water under the earth” in Exodus 20:4. It is a popular or poetic conception derived from phenomena; yet possibly the idea that the earth was firmly fixed upon such a foundation suggested the Creator’s power much in the same way as the suspension and motion of the earth in space may do to us.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods (comp. Genesis 1:9). God has established the earth above the seas and floods, causing it to "appear," and thus making it a fitting habitation for man. Hence his right of property in the earth and in all the dwellers on it. They exist through his providential care (comp. Psalm 104:6-9). Psalm 24:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Jahve, whose throne of grace is now set upon Zion, has not a limited dominion, like the heathen deities: His right to sovereignty embraces the earth and its fulness (Psalm 50:12; Psalm 89:12), i.e., everything that is to be found upon it and in it.

(Note: In 1 Corinthians 10:26, Paul founds on this verse (cf. Psalm 50:12) the doctrine that a Christian (apart from a charitable regard for the weak) may eat whatever is sold in the shambles, without troubling himself to enquire whether it has been offered to idols or not. A Talmudic teacher, B. Berachoth 35a, infers from this passage the duty of prayer before meat: He who eats without giving thanks is like one who lays hands upon קדשׁי שׁמים (the sacred things of God); the right to eat is only obtained by prayer.)

For He, הוא, is the owner of the world, because its Creator. He has founded it upon seas, i.e., the ocean and its streams, נהרות, ῥέεθρα (Jonah 2:4); for the waters existed before the dry land, and this has been cast up out of them at God's word, so that consequently the solid land, - which indeed also conceals in its interior a תּהום רבּה (Genesis 7:11), - rising above the surface of the sea, has the waters, as it were, for its foundation (Psalm 136:6), although it would more readily sink down into them than keep itself above them, if it were not in itself upheld by the creative power of God. Hereupon arises the question, who may ascend the mountain of Jahve, and stand above in His holy place? The futures have a potential signification: who can have courage to do it? what, therefore, must he be, whom Jahve receives into His fellowship, and with whose worship He is well-pleased? Answer: he must be one innocent in his actions and pure in mind, one who does not lift up his soul to that which is vain (לשּׁוא, according to the Masora with Waw minusculum). (ל) נשׂא נפשׁ אל, to direct one's soul, Psalm 25:1, or longing and striving, towards anything, Deuteronomy 24:15; Proverbs 19:18; Hosea 4:8. The Ker נפשׁי is old and acknowledged by the oldest authorities.

(Note: The reading נפשׁי is adopted by Saadia (in Enumoth ii., where נפשׁי is equivalent to שׁמי), Juda ha-Levi (Cuzari iii. 27), Abulwalid (Rikma p. 180), Rashi, Kimchi, the Sohar, the Codices (and among others by that of the year 1294) and most editions (among which, the Complutensis has נפשׁי in the text). Nor does Aben-Ezra, whom Norzi has misunderstood, by any means reverse the relation of the Chethb and Ker; to him נפשׁי is the Ker, and he explains it as a metaphor (an anthropomorphism): וכתוב נפשי דוך כנוי. Elias Levita is the only one who rejects the Ker נפשׁי; but he does so though misunderstanding a Masora (vid., Baer's Psalterium p. 130) and not without admitting Masoretic testimony in favour of it (וכן ראיתי ברוב נוסחאות המסורת). He is the only textual critic who rejects it. For Jacob b. Chajim is merely astonished that נפשׁו is not to be found in the Masoreth register of words written with Waw and to be read with Jod. And even Norzi does not reject this Ker, which he is obliged to admit has greatly preponderating testimony in its favour, and he would only too gladly get rid of it.)

Even the lxx Cod. Alex. translates: τὴν ψυχὴν μου; whereas Cod. Vat. (Eus., Apollin., Theodor., et al.): τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. Critically it is just as intangible, as it is exegetically incomprehensible; נפשׁי might then be equivalent to שׁמי. Exodus 20:7, an explanation, however, which does not seem possible even from Amos 6:8; Jeremiah 51:14. We let this Kerמ alone to its undisturbed critical rights. But that the poet did actually write thus, is incredible.

In Psalm 24:5 (just as at the close of Psalm 15:1-5), in continued predicates, we are told the character of the man, who is worthy of this privilege, to whom the question in Psalm 24:3 refers. Such an one shall bear away, or acquire (נשׁא, as e.g., Esther 2:17) blessing from Jahve and righteousness from the God of his salvation (Psalm 25:5; Psalm 27:9). Righteousness, i.e., conformity to God and that which is well-pleasing to God, appears here as a gift, and in this sense it is used interchangeably with ישׁע (e.g., Psalm 132:9, Psalm 132:16). It is the righteousness of God after which the righteous, but not the self-righteous, man hungers and thirsts; that moral perfection which is the likeness of God restored to him and at the same time brought about by his own endeavours; it is the being changed, or transfigured, into the image of the Holy One Himself. With Psalm 24:5 the answer to the question of Psalm 24:3 is at an end; Psalm 24:6 adds that those thus qualified, who may accordingly expect to receive God's gifts of salvation, are the true church of Jahve, the Israel of God. דּור (lit., a revolution, Arabic dahr, root דר, to turn, revolve) is used here, as in Psalm 14:5; Psalm 73:15; Psalm 112:2, of a collective whole, whose bond of union is not contemporaneousness, but similarity of disposition; and it is an alliteration with the דּרשׁיו (Chethb דרשו, without the Jod plur.) which follows. מבקשׁי פּניך is a second genitive depending on דּור, as in Psalm 27:8. Here at the close the predication passes into the form of invocation (Thy face). And יעקב is a summarising predicate: in short, these are Jacob, not merely after the flesh, but after the spirit, and thus in truth (Isaiah 44:2, cf. Romans 9:6; Galatians 6:16). By interpolating אלהי, as is done in the lxx and Peshto, and adopted by Ewald, Olshausen, Hupfeld, and Bttcher, the nerve, as it were, of the assertion is cut through. The predicate, which has been expressed in different ways, is concentrated intelligibly enough in the one word יעקב, towards which it all along tends. And here the music becomes forte. The first part of this double Psalm dies away amidst the playing of the instruments of the Levitical priests; for the Ark was brought in בּכל־עז וּבשׁירים, as 2 Samuel 6:5 (cf. 2 Samuel 6:14) is to be read.