Bible Strands
Psalms 104:9
You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God while describing the creation event where mountains rose and valleys sank to their assigned locations. This declaration immediately follows the retreating of waters to their designated domain.
The words — שַׂ֭מְתָּ (Sam.ta) means you set, and גְּֽבוּל (ge.vu.l) denotes a boundary. These terms describe the divine act of establishing a fixed limit that the waters cannot cross.
The thread — The theme of God fixing boundaries for waters runs through Job 38:10, Genesis 9:11, and Job 26:10. These passages consistently record divine restraint as the mechanism that prevents the earth from being submerged.
Why it lands — The text states that God established an unbreachable limit so waters would never again cover the earth. A reader must recognize that creation functions within fixed boundaries rather than unchecked expansion.
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 hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
Cross-references
- Job 38:10 when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
- Genesis 9:11 And I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
- Job 26:10 He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.
- Isaiah 54:9 “For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.
- Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
- Psalms 33:7 He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses.