Bible Strands
Psalms 136:6
He spread out the earth upon the waters. His loving devotion endures forever.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses a worshiping assembly during a liturgical recitation, alternating creation accounts with a fixed responsive refrain.
The words — רֹקַע (ro.Ka') literally means "to spread out," describing the physical formation of the earth, while חַסְדּ/וֹ (chas.D/o) translates to "his covenant loyalty," anchoring the verse’s refrain.
The thread — This imagery parallels Genesis 1:9, where dry land emerges from gathered waters, and aligns with Psalms 24:2 and Jeremiah 10:12, which both ground the earth’s stability in God’s foundational work.
Why it lands — The text declares God’s act of establishing the earth upon the waters, then requires the reader to acknowledge that this physical order is sustained by His unending covenant loyalty.
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
To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Cross-references
- Psalms 24:2 For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
- Genesis 1:9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.
- Jeremiah 10:12 The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
- Job 26:7 He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.
- Psalms 104:2 He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
- Isaiah 42:5 This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:
- Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
- Zechariah 12:1 This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
- 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,
- Job 37:18 can you, like Him, spread out the skies, as strong as a mirror of bronze?