Bible Strands
Psalms 124:5
then the raging waters would have swept us away.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the gathered community, marking the precise moment of deliverance from hostile pursuers. The speaker contrasts their present safety with the immediate threat that would have destroyed them.
The words — The phrase עַל־נַפְשֵׁנוּ הַמַּיִם הַזֵּידוֹנִים (al-nafsheinu ham-mayim ha-zidonim) literally translates "over our self the waters of the raging." The verb עָבַר ('avar) conveys a sweeping passage that would have carried them away.
The thread — The motif of restrained chaotic waters appears in Job 38:11, where God commands proud waves to halt, and Psalms 93:3, which depicts floodwaters rising and seas lifting pounding waves. The theme of divine boundaries against overwhelming forces also surfaces in Jeremiah 5:22.
Why it lands — The text states that survival resulted from the Lord's restraint, not human effort. It requires the reader to acknowledge the reality of the threat and attribute the outcome to divine action.
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
Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
Cross-references
- Job 38:11 and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
- 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 93:3 The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.