Psalm 114sn Psalm 114. The psalmist recalls the events of the exodus and conquest and celebrates God’s kingship over his covenant people.
1 When Israel left Egypt,
when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind,tn Heb “the house of Jacob from a nation speaking a foreign language.” The Hebrew verb לָעַז (la’at, “to speak a foreign language”) occurs only here in the OT.
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his kingdom.
3 The sea looked and fled;sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).
the Jordan Rivertn Heb “the Jordan” (also in v. 5). The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity. turned back.sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.sn The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. This may recall the theophany at Sinai when the mountain shook before God’s presence (Exod 19:18).
5 Why do you flee, O sea?
Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?
6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
like lambs, O hills?
7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord –
before the God of Jacob,
8 who turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into springs of water!sn In v. 8 the psalmist recalls the event(s) recorded in Exod 17:6 and/or Num 20:11 (see also Deut 8:15 and Ps 78:15-16, 20).
1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC
Used by permission, All rights reserved.
