Psalms 107:23

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
down	יוֹרְדֵ֣י yor.Dei	H3381	to descend (literally · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
sea	הַ֭יָּם Hai.yom	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
ships	בָּאֳנִיּ֑וֹת bo.'o.ni.Yot	H591	a ship · preposition + noun, common feminine plural absolute
do	עֹשֵׂ֥י 'o.Sei	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
business	מְ֝לָאכָ֗ה me.la.Khah	H4399	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
great	רַבִּֽים ra.Bim	H7227	abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine plural absolute
waters	בְּמַ֣יִם be.Ma.yim	H4325	water · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 48:7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
Revelation 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by…
Isaiah 42:10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and…
Ezekiel 27:26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
Acts 27:9-28 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 107:23-32

The psalmist here calls upon those to give glory to God who are delivered from dangers at sea. Though the Israelites dealt not much in merchandise, yet their neighbours the Tyrians and Zidonians did, and for them perhaps this part of the psalm was especially calculated. I. Much of the power of God appears at all times in the sea, Psa 107:23, Psa 107:24. It appears to those that go down to the sea in ships, as mariners, merchants, fishermen, or passengers, that do business in great waters. And surely none will expose themselves there but those that have business (among all Solomon's pleasant things we do not read of any pleasure-boat he had), but those that go on business, lawful business, ma…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on Psalms 107:23

They that go down to the sea in ships,.... This is the fourth instance of persons in distress crying to the Lord for help, and, having it, are laid under obligation to praise him; the case of seafaring men: so the Targum introduces it, "mariners that go down to the sea in ships;'' the same form of expression as here is used in Isaiah 42:10. Some affirm the sea to be higher than the earth, but by this it should be lower; besides the earth is said to be founded on the seas, which suggests superiority; and all the rivers run into the sea, which supposes a declivity; but, be it so that it is higher than the earth, yet this phrase is to be justified by the shores being higher than the sea, from…

Read the whole note in the console

John Calvin on Psalms 107:23-32

Psalm 107:23-32 23. They [280] that go down to the sea in ships, trading in the great waters, 24. See the works of Jehovah, his wonders in the deep. 25. He speaks, and raiseth the stormy wind, and causeth the billows thereof to mount on high. 26. They mount up to the heavens, they descend into the deeps; their soul breaketh because of trouble. 27. They are tossed and totter like a drunken man, and all their senses are overwhelmed. [281] And they cry to Jehovah in their straits, [282] and he rescues them from their troubles. 29. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 30. And they rejoice because they are calmed; and he brings them to the coast which they desired. 31…

The Church Fathers

..."They who go down on the sea in ships, doing their business on the mighty waters" (ver. 23); that is, amongst many peoples. For that waters are often put for peoples, the Apocalypse of John is witness, when on John's asking what those waters were, it was answered him, they are peoples. They then who do their business on mighty waters, "they have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep" (ver. 24). For what is deeper than human hearts? hence often break forth winds; storms of sedition, and dissensions, disturb the ship.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 107

[Syncletica] also said, 'We have no security in this world. The Apostle said, "Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). We are sailing on uncharted seas, as the psalmist David said, "Our life is like a sea." Yet some seas have dangerous reefs, some are full of sharks, some seas are calm. It seems as if we are sailing in calm waters, while men of the world are sailing in rough weather. We are sailing in daylight, led by the sun of righteousness, while they are being driven along in the night of ignorance. Yet it often happens that worldly men, sailing in darkness and through storms, are so afraid of danger that they save the ship by calling upon God and by watchfulness, while we, in our calm waters, become careless, leave the proper course of righteousness, and are sunk.'
— Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Chastisement · FROM GOD — FROM GOD
Commerce · General references — General references
Mariners (Sailors) · Perils of — Perils of
Sciences · Navigation — Navigation
Sea, The · Passed over in ships — Passed over in ships
Ships · Navigated: The ocean — Navigated: The ocean

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 107:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 107:23-32

John Gill on Psalms 107:23

John Calvin on Psalms 107:23-32

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 107:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 107:23-32

John Gill on Psalms 107:23

John Calvin on Psalms 107:23-32

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 107:23-32

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 107:23-32

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 107:23