Bible Strands
Psalms 104:6
You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, describing the earth’s condition immediately after its foundations were laid. The description captures the primordial moment before divine intervention caused the waters to retreat.
The words — The Hebrew תְּ֭הוֹם (tehom) denotes the primordial deep, and כַּ/לְּב֣וּשׁ (ka./leVush) translates literally as like a garment. The verb כִּסִּית֑וֹ (kisiTo) states that God covered the land with these waters.
The thread — The image of waters standing above mountains appears in Genesis 7:19 during the flood narrative. The motif of God’s word forming the earth and the deep’s initial presence also runs through Genesis 1:2 and 2 Peter 3:5.
Why it lands — The text establishes that the earth’s current stability followed a period of total submersion. It requires the reader to recognize that natural order depends entirely on divine command rather than autonomous processes.
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
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
Cross-references
- Genesis 7:19 Finally, the waters completely prevailed upon the earth, so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered.
- 2 Peter 3:5 But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
- Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.