Psalm 74:13
New International Version
It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.

New Living Translation
You split the sea by your strength and smashed the heads of the sea monsters.

English Standard Version
You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.

Berean Standard Bible
You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;

King James Bible
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

New King James Version
You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.

New American Standard Bible
You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

NASB 1995
You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

NASB 1977
Thou didst divide the sea by Thy strength; Thou didst break the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

Legacy Standard Bible
You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

Amplified Bible
You divided the [Red] Sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

Christian Standard Bible
You divided the sea with your strength; you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water;

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You divided the sea with Your strength; You smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the waters;

American Standard Version
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: Thou brakest the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.

Contemporary English Version
By your power you made a path through the sea, and you smashed the heads of sea monsters.

English Revised Version
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You stirred up the sea with your own strength. You smashed the heads of sea monsters in the water.

Good News Translation
With your mighty strength you divided the sea and smashed the heads of the sea monsters;

International Standard Version
You split the sea by your own power. You shattered the heads of sea monsters in the water.

Majority Standard Bible
You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;

NET Bible
You destroyed the sea by your strength; you shattered the heads of the sea monster in the water.

New Heart English Bible
You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou didst break the heads of the dragons in the waters.

World English Bible
You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
You have divided [the] sea by Your strength, "" You have shattered heads of dragons by the waters,

Young's Literal Translation
Thou hast broken by Thy strength a sea -monster, Thou hast shivered Heads of dragons by the waters,

Smith's Literal Translation
Thou didst cleave the sea in thy strength: thou didst break the heads of the dragons upon the waters.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.

Catholic Public Domain Version
In your virtue, you confirmed the sea. You crushed the heads of the serpents in the waters.

New American Bible
You stirred up the sea by your might; you smashed the heads of the dragons on the waters.

New Revised Standard Version
You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou didst break the heads of the dragons in the waters.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
You have separated the sea in your might and you have broken the heads of the dragons in the waters.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Thou didst break the sea in pieces by Thy strength; Thou didst shatter the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thou didst establish the sea, in thy might, thou didst break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Why Have You Rejected Us Forever?
12Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth. 13You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea; 14You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.…

Cross References
Exodus 15:8-10
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. / The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’ / But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Isaiah 51:9-10
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon? / 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?

Job 26:12-13
By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab. / By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

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, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’

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.

Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Revelation 20:2
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Isaiah 30:7
Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.

Jeremiah 51:34
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out.

Revelation 13:1
Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

Revelation 17:1
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.

Job 7:12
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?

Isaiah 43:16-17
Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters, / who brings out the chariots and horses, the armies and warriors together, to lie down, never to rise again; to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

Nahum 1:4
He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.

Psalm 89:9-10
You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them. / You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.


Treasury of Scripture

You did divide the sea by your strength: you brake the heads of the dragons in the waters.

divide.

Psalm 66:6
He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him.

Psalm 78:13
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

Psalm 106:8,9
Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known…

brakest

Exodus 14:28
And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

Isaiah 51:9,10
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? …

Ezekiel 29:3
Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

dragons.

Ezekiel 32:2
Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.

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Brakest Break Broke Broken Divide Divided Dragons Great Heads Monster Monsters Open Parted Pieces Power Sea Sea-Beasts Sea-'Monster Sea-Monsters Shatter Split Strength Waters
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Brakest Break Broke Broken Divide Divided Dragons Great Heads Monster Monsters Open Parted Pieces Power Sea Sea-Beasts Sea-'Monster Sea-Monsters Shatter Split Strength Waters
Psalm 74
1. The prophet complains of the desolation of the sanctuary
10. He moves God to help in consideration of his power
18. Of his reproachful enemies, or his children and of his covenant.














You divided the sea by Your strength
You divided
The Hebrew root for "divided" is "בָּקַע" (baqa), which conveys the idea of splitting or cleaving apart. This word is often associated with acts of divine intervention, such as the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus. In this context, it emphasizes God's sovereign power to create order from chaos, a theme that resonates throughout the Scriptures. The act of dividing the sea is a testament to God's ability to control and manipulate the natural world, underscoring His supreme authority over creation.

the sea
The "sea" in Hebrew is "יָם" (yam), which can refer to large bodies of water and is often symbolic of chaos and disorder in ancient Near Eastern literature. In the biblical narrative, the sea represents the forces of chaos that God subdues. By dividing the sea, God demonstrates His mastery over chaos, bringing peace and stability. This imagery is a powerful reminder of God's ability to bring order to our lives, even when we face tumultuous circumstances.

by Your strength
The phrase "by Your strength" highlights the divine power and might of God. The Hebrew word for "strength" is "עֹז" (oz), which denotes might, power, and fortitude. This term is frequently used in the Psalms to describe God's unmatched power and His ability to protect and deliver His people. The emphasis on God's strength serves as a reassurance to believers that no matter how insurmountable the challenges may seem, God's power is sufficient to overcome them. It is a call to trust in His omnipotence and to find refuge in His unwavering strength.

(13) Thou.--Verse after verse this emphatic pronoun recurs, as if challenging the Divine Being to contradict.

Divide.--Literally, break up.

Dragons.--Hebrew, tanninim, not to be confounded with tannim (Psalm 44:19, where see Note). It is the plural of tannin, which always indicates some aquatic monster. In Genesis 1:21 it is translated whale, so here by Symmachus. The LXX. (comp. Vulgate) have rendered this word and leviathan (in the next verse) by ??????, and, indeed, the parallelism indicates monsters of a similar, if not the same, kind. About leviathan the minute and faithful description of the crocodile in Job 41 does not leave a doubt, and therefore we conclude that the tannin, here as in Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2 (margin), Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 51:9 (where it is also, as here, joined with leviathan), an emblem of Egypt, was some great saurian, perhaps the alligator. The derivation from a root implying extend, favours this explanation. (Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, pp. 260, 261.) Besides its abundance, another fact leading to the crocodile becoming an emblem of Egypt, was the adoration paid to it. (See Herod., ii. 69.) . . .

Verse 13. - Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength. A clear reference to Exodus 14:21 (comp. Psalm 77:16; Psalm 78:13; Psalm 106:9). Thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. The dragon (tannim) is frequently used as a symbol of Egyptian power (see Isaiah 51:9; Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2). The allusion here is to the destruction of Pharaoh's host in the waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:27-30; Exodus 15:4).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You
אַתָּ֤ה (’at·tāh)
Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

divided
פוֹרַ֣רְתָּ (p̄ō·w·rar·tā)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 6565: To break up, to violate, frustrate

the sea
יָ֑ם (yām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3220: A sea, the Mediterranean Sea, large river, an artifical basin

by Your strength;
בְעָזְּךָ֣ (ḇə·‘āz·zə·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5797: Strength, might

You smashed
שִׁבַּ֖רְתָּ (šib·bar·tā)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7665: To break, break in pieces

the heads
רָאשֵׁ֥י (rā·šê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 7218: The head

of the dragons
תַ֝נִּינִ֗ים (ṯan·nî·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8577: A marine, land monster, sea-serpent, jackal

of
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the sea;
הַמָּֽיִם׃ (ham·mā·yim)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen


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OT Poetry: Psalm 74:13 You divided the sea by your strength (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 74:12
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