Bible Strands
Psalms 104:19
He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God within a creation hymn, describing the natural order immediately after noting mountain habitats for wildlife. The speaker outlines the daily and seasonal cycles that follow the establishment of animal refuges.
The words — The Hebrew phrase לְ/מוֹעֲדִ֑ים (le./mo.'a.Dim) literally means "for appointed times," defining the moon's function. The verb עָשָׂ֣ה ('a.Sah) states that God actively formed the moon to fulfill this designated purpose.
The thread — This assignment of celestial bodies to mark time and provide light appears in Genesis 1:14 and Jeremiah 31:35. Psalm 136:7 also records God making the great lights to govern day and night.
Why it lands — The text states that the moon marks seasons and the sun knows its setting time. It requires the reader to acknowledge the deliberate design behind observable natural cycles.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
Cross-references
- Genesis 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
- Jeremiah 31:35 Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name:
- Psalms 136:7 He made the great lights—His loving devotion endures forever.
- Job 38:12 In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
- Psalms 8:3 When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place—
- Psalms 19:6 it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
- Job 31:26 if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
- Deuteronomy 4:19 When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.