Bible Strands
Psalms 114:5
Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the sea and the Jordan River, posing a rhetorical question immediately after describing mountains and hills leaping at God's presence.
The words — The Hebrew תָּנ֑וּס (ta.nus) literally means "you will flee," paired with תִּסֹּ֥ב (ti.sov), meaning "you will turn around," describing the rivers' sudden retreat.
The thread — This depiction of waters fleeing appears in Habakkuk 3:8, where the Lord's rage against the sea is linked to His riding in judgment, and parallels the command in Jeremiah 47:6 for the sword of the LORD to cease its activity.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that creation responds to divine presence with immediate, involuntary movement, requiring the reader to account for the power that commands both geography and instruments of judgment to stop.
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
What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
Cross-references
- Habakkuk 3:8 Were You angry at the rivers, O LORD? Was Your wrath against the streams? Did You rage against the sea when You rode on Your horses, on Your chariots of salvation?
- Jeremiah 47:6 ‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’