Which alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.
Which alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.
That alone stretcheth out the heavens, And treadeth upon the waves of the sea;
By whose hand the heavens were stretched out, and who is walking on the waves of the sea:
Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.
Which alone stretcheth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
And treadeth upon the waves - This is a very majestic image. God not only walks upon the waters, but when the sea runs mountains high, he steps from billow to billow in his almighty and essential majesty. There is a similar sentiment in David, Psalm 29:10 : "The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever." But both are far outdone by the Psalmist, Psalm 18:9-15, and especially in these words, Psalm 18:10, He did fly on the wings of the wind. Job is great, but in every respect David is greater.
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens - As an expanse, or a curtain; see the notes at Isaiah 40:22.
And treadeth upon the waves of the sea - Margin, "Heights." So it is in the Hebrew. It means the "high waves;" that is, he walks upon the waves of the ocean when lifted up by a storm. This is spoken of here as a proof of the greatness of God; and the meaning of all is, that he is seen in the storm, in the heaving ocean, when the heavens are black with tempest, and when the earth is convulsed. It may be added here, that the Lord Jesus walked amidst the howling winds on the lake, and thus gave evidence that he was God; Matthew 14:25. "The Egyptian hieroglyphic for what was not possible to be done, was a man walking on the water." Burder. Dr. Good, and some others, render this, "on the mountains." But the more correct rendering is given in the common version. The Hebrew word rendered "waves" (במה bâmâh) indeed properly means a height, a lofty place, a mountain; but the comparison of waves with a mountain, is common in all languages. So we speak of waves "mountain-high," or as high as mountains. So Virgil, Aeneid i.105,
Insequitur cumulo praeruptus aquae mons.
Similar to this, is the expression occurring in Homer, κύματα ἶσα ὄρεσσιν kumata isa oressin; and so Apollonius, i. 521 - ἅλὸς ἄκρον chalos akron. The Septuagint renders it, "who walketh upon the sea as upon a pavement."
9:8 Who. &c. - A farther description of a black and tempestuous season, wherein the heavens seem to be brought down nearer to the earth.Treadeth - Represseth and ruleth them when they rage and are tempestuous: for treading upon any thing, signifies in scripture using power and dominion over it.