Does Psalm 104:7 support a literal or metaphorical interpretation of creation? Text “At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.” — Psalm 104:7 Immediate Hebrew Analysis The verb “fled” (נָסוּ, nasu) is the plain Qal perfect, denoting an actual historical action completed in time. The parallel verb “hurried away” (יֶחֱפָזוּן, yeḥefazun) intensifies the movement. Nothing in the grammar forces a metaphorical sense; both verbs describe concrete motion. Literary Context inside Psalm 104 Verses 5–9 form a chronological unit: 5 “He set the earth on its foundations… 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment… 7 At Your rebuke the waters fled… 8 They rose up to the mountains; they sank down to the valleys… 9 You set a boundary…” The psalmist is recounting sequential, observable events; each clause builds on the previous one with the vav-consecutive, the Hebrew narrative form. The flow mirrors Genesis 1:2, 9–10. Genesis Parallels Genesis 1:9 : “‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place…’” Genesis 8:1 : “…and the water began to recede.” Psalm 104:7 unites both creation Day 3 and the post-Flood recession (Genesis 8). Hebrew poetry often telescopes related historical acts (cf. Psalm 136:6–9). The dual allusion is still literal: two real water-retreat events. Ancient Near Eastern Background Babylonian myths (e.g., Enuma Elish) describe gods battling primordial seas in symbolic combat. Psalm 104 rejects mythic chaos imagery and replaces it with Yahweh’s sovereign command. The psalm therefore functions as polemic realism, not allegory. Theological Force of “Rebuke” and “Thunder” Scripture repeatedly records literal meteorological obedience to God’s voice (Exodus 14:21; Job 37:2–6; Mark 4:39). Psalm 104:7 fits that pattern—supernatural speech prompting physical response—rather than a figurative abstraction. Poetic Device ≠ Figurative Creation Hebrew poetry employs parallelism and vivid verbs, but poetry can recount history (Judges 5; Exodus 15). The presence of metaphor (“garment,” v. 6) does not negate literal referents; metaphor is the manner of description, not denial of event. Early Jewish and Patristic Exegesis • Dead Sea Scroll 11QPsa preserves Psalm 104 with no variant affecting v. 7, indicating a stable, historical reading by 2nd-century BC scribes. • Philo reads the verse as God’s actual arrangement of elements (On the Creation 63). • Basil’s Hexaemeron V.4 affirms a real gathering of primeval waters at divine command. No ancient interpreter spiritualized away the event itself. Geological Corroboration Rapid water drainage features—such as the Channeled Scablands (Washington State) and the Lake Missoula flood paths—demonstrate that massive bodies of water can “flee” swiftly when boundaries break. Catastrophic Flood-model geologists (Snelling, Austin) cite these analogs as modern echoes of the mechanisms described in Psalm 104:7 and Genesis 8:3. Logical Flow toward a Literal Reading A. Specific verbs of motion → physical event B. Narrative sequencing → chronological history C. Canonical parallels → Day 3 and Flood recession, both treated elsewhere as factual D. Polemic against myth → real Creator, real act E. Stable textual tradition → secure wording Therefore, the text supports a literal retreat of waters in creation/Flood history. Metaphor is present only in descriptive flourishes, not in the foundational claim. Addressing Figurative-Only Objections Objection: “Poetry cannot describe history.” Reply: Psalm 18:6–17 poetically recounts David’s literal deliverance; Judges 5 is Deborah’s song of an actual battle. Poetic genre shapes style, not truth-value. Objection: “Science disallows global hydrologic catastrophe.” Reply: Marine fossils on Everest’s limestone (Edmund Hillary, 1953) and rapidly buried polystrate trees (Joggins, Nova Scotia) align with worldwide inundation models. Pastoral and Apologetic Implications A God who literally commands waters can literally raise the dead (Luke 8:24, 1 Corinthians 15:20). Trust in His historical acts—creation, Flood, resurrection—forms the bedrock of salvation hope. Conclusion Psalm 104:7 is best read as a literal description of waters retreating at God’s spoken command, poetically celebrated but historically grounded. The verse strengthens a straightforward creation-Flood chronology and coheres with the broader biblical testimony to a Creator who acts decisively in space-time. |
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