He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.
Parallel Translations
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He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.
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Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
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Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment, who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Psalms 104:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 40:22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
- Isaiah 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens. I have commanded all their army.
- Daniel 7:9 “I watched until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire.
- 1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
- Zechariah 12:1 A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
- Matthew 17:2 He was changed before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.
- 1 Timothy 6:16 He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.
- Hebrews 1:10-12 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does. You will roll them up like a mantle, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years won’t fail.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 104:2 Who coverest [thyself] with light as [with]…
Psa 104:2 Who coverest [thyself] with light as [with] a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Ver. 2. Who coverest thyself with light] That lovely creature that first shone out of darkness, and is chief among all things sensible, as coming nearest to the unapproachable glory of God; like as the robe royal is next unto the king. Herod upon a set day came forth arrayed in royal apparel, in cloth of silver, saith Josephus, which being beaten upon by the sun’s beams, dazzled the eyes of the people, and drew from them that blasphemous acclamation, Act 12:21. God, when he made the world, showed himself in all his royalty; neither can we ascribe too much unto him.
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Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain] The whole expanse or firmament is as a canopy over God’s throne, or rather as a curtain or screen between us and the Divine majesty, the sight whereof we cannot bear.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Coverest, or adornest, or clothest. With light; either,
Coverest, or adornest, or clothest. With light; either,
1. With that light which no man can approach unto, as it is called 1Ti 6:16, wherewith therefore he may well be said to be covered or hid from the eyes of mortal men. Or rather,
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2. With that first-created light, Gen 1:3, which the psalmist fitly puts in the first place, as being the first of God’s visible works.
Like a curtain; the use whereof it hath, partly in reference to that glorious mansion of the blessed God and his holy angels, which these visible heavens (far above which it is, Eph 4:10) do veil and cover; and partly in reference to the earth, which they enclose and protect.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment,....…
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment,.... Referring, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi think, to the light, which was first created; and indeed this was commanded out of darkness by God the Word, or by the essential Word of God. Light is expressive of the nature of God himself, who is light, and in him is no darkness at all, and who dwells in light (h) inaccessible, and so may be said to be clothed with it; which is applicable to Christ as a divine Person, Jo1 1:5. and to whom this term "light" well agrees; Light being one of the names of the Messiah in the Old Testament, Psa 43:3, and is often given him in the New Testament, as the author of the light of nature, grace, and glory, Joh 1:9. He is now possessed of the light and glory of the heavenly state, of which his transfiguration on the mount was an emblem, when his face shone like the sun, and his raiment was as the light, Mat 17:2.
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain; alluding to the firmament or expanse, which, being spread out like a curtain, divided between the waters and the waters, Gen 1:6. Heaven is represented as a tent stretched out, with curtains drawn around it, to hide the dazzling and unapproachable light in which the Lord dwells, Isa 40:22 and it is as a curtain or canopy stretched out and encompassing this earth; the stretching of it out belongs to God alone, and is a proof of the deity of Christ, to whom it is here and elsewhere ascribed, Job 9:8. Here Christ dwells invisible to us at present; he is received up into heaven, retained there, and from thence will descend at the last day; and in the mean while is within the curtains of heaven, unseen by us.
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(h) "Pura in luce refulsit alma parens", Virgil. Aeneid. 2. "Et paulo post, pallas insedit, nimbo effulgens".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Light - With that first created light, which the…
Light - With that first created light, which the psalmist fitly puts in the first place, as being the first of God's visible works.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Who coverest thyself with light] Light, insufferable…
Verse 2. Who coverest thyself with light] Light, insufferable splendor, is the robe of the Divine Majesty. Light and fire are generally the accompaniments of the Supreme Being, when he manifests his presence to his creatures. He appeared thus to Abraham when he made a covenant with him, Ge 15:17; and to Moses when he appointed him to bring the people out of Egypt, Ex 19:18. Moses calls God a consuming fire, De 4:24. When Christ was transfigured on the mount, his face shone like the sun, and his garment was white as the light, Mt 17:2. And when the Lord manifests himself to the prophets, he is always surrounded with fire, and the most brilliant light.
Bishop Lowth has some fine remarks on the imagery and metaphors of this Psalm. The exordium, says he, is peculiarly magnificent, wherein the majesty of God is described, so far as we can investigate and comprehend it, from the admirable construction of nature; in which passage, as it was for the most part necessary to use translatitious images, the sacred poet has principally applied those which would be esteemed by the Hebrews the most elevated, and worthy such an argument; for they all, as it seems to me, are taken from the tabernacle. We will give these passages verbally, with a short illustration: -
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הוד והדר לבשת hod vehadar labashta.
"Thou hast put on honour and majesty."
The original, לבשת, is frequently used when speaking of the clothing or dress of the priests.
Verse 2. עטה אור כשלמה oteh or cassalmah.
"Covering thyself with light as with a garment."
A manifest symbol of the Divine Presence; the light conspicuous in the holiest is pointed out under the same idea; and from this single example a simile is educed to express the ineffable glory of God generally and universally.
נוטה שמים כיריעה noteh shamayim kayeriah.
"Stretching out the heavens like a curtain."
The word יריעה, rendered here curtain, is that which denotes the curtains or uncovering of the whole tabernacle. This may also be an allusion to those curtains or awnings, stretched over an area, under which companies sit at weddings, feasts, religious festivals, curiously painted under, to give them the appearance of the visible heavens in the night-season.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment…
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment - Referring to the first work of creation Gen 1:3, “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” He seemed to put on light as a garment; he himself appeared as if invested with light. It was the first “manifestation” of God. He seemed at once to have put on light as his robe.
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain - As an expanse spread over us. The word used here means a curtain or hanging, so called from its tremulous motion, from a word meaning to tremble. Thus it is applied to a curtain before a door; to a tent, etc. It is applied here to the heavens, as they seem to be “spread out” like the curtains of a tent, as if God had spread them out for a tent for himself to dwell in. See the notes at Isa 40:22.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. Who coverest thyself with light—The text simply roads,…
2. Who coverest thyself with light—The text simply roads, “Who coverest with light,” there being nothing answering to “thyself” except the masculine form of the participle, while the object of the verb is left to be suggested by the connexion. Exley (Commentary on Genesis) understands it of covering, or overspreading, the earth with “light,” being the first day’s work. Gen_1:3-5. This gives a good sense, and certainly the psalmist already begins, in the second member of this verse, to speak of the acts of God in the six days’ work.
Stretchest out the heavens—An allusion to the second day’s work, “Let there be a firmament,” etc.
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Gen_1:6-7. The action of this day’s work was upon the atmosphere, adapting it in a higher degree, as the pabulum of life, to plants and animals, and especially to the higher uses of man. The disordered state of the atmosphere prior to this was a prominent feature of the Hebrew cosmogony. In Job_38:9, the “cloud” and “thick darkness,” or the darkness of thick clouds, (ערפל,) is represented as “swaddling” the abyss. But the air now becomes pellucid, elastic, and animating.
Like a curtain— The word means a hanging, or covering, of a flexible and tremulous substance, like a tent cloth, sometimes, the tent itself. Thus the sky, or expanse, seemed spread out like a tent covering. The present participial form of the verbs (art covering, art stretching out, or spreading) teaches a present connexion of God with his universe, as if the acts of creation were still perpetuated in an all sustaining providence.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. Light, the first created element, is as it…
2. Light, the first created element, is as it were God’s robe, revealing while it conceals Him. Nothing can serve better as the expression of His Nature (1Jn_1:5; 1Ti_6:16). Light is universally diffused; it is the condition of life, the source of gladness, the emblem of purity.
who stretchest out &c.] Cp. Isa_40:22. The canopy of the sky is compared to a tent-curtain, stretched out over the earth. By His simple fiat God spread out these heavens as easily as a man might pitch his tent. Their vastness is a symbol of the majesty of the King Who dwells in His royal pavilion, Whom yet “heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain.”
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Observe the present participles, covering thyself, stretching out. The original act of creation is regarded as continued into the present in the maintenance of the universe.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Who coverest.—Perhaps better with the participles of the…
(2) Who coverest.—Perhaps better with the participles of the original retained:
Putting on light as a robe;
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Spreading the heavens as a curtain.
The psalmist does not think of the formation of light as of a single past act, but as a continued glorious operation of Divine power and splendour. Not only is light as to the modern poet,
“Nature’s resplendent robe,
Without whose vesting beauty all were wrapt
In unessential gloom,”
but it is the dress of Divinity, the “ethereal woof” that God Himself is for ever weaving for His own wear.
Curtain.—Especially of a tent (see Son_1:5, &c.), the tremulous movement of its folds being expressed in the Hebrew word. Different explanations have been given of the figure. Some see an allusion to the curtains of the Tabernacle (Exodus 26, 27). The associations of this ritual were dear to a religious Hebrew, and he may well have had in his mind the rich folds of the curtain of the Holy of Holies. So a modern poet speaks of
“The arras-folds, that variegate
The earth, God’s ante-chamber.
Herder, again, refers the image to the survival of the nomadic instinct. But there is no need to put a limit to a figure so natural and suggestive. Possibly images of palace, temple, and tent, all combined, rose to the poet’s thought, as in Shelley’s “Ode to Heaven”:—
“Palace roof of cloudless nights!
Paradise of golden lights!
Deep immeasurable vast,
Which art now, and which wert then;
Of the present and the past,
Of the Eternal where and when,
Presence-chamber, temple, home,
Ever-canopying dome
Of acts and ages yet to come!”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment.…
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment. Light was the first thing created, (Gen_1:3) before either the heaven Gen_1:6-8) or the earth. (Gen_1:9, Gen_1:10) In light God, the invisible, as it were, enshrouds himself, making it the image of his hidden glory. Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain; or, "a canopy". (comp. Isa_40:22 Isa_42:5 Isa_44:25) The metaphor is taken from the stretching out or "spreading out" of a tent. (see Isa_40:22)
Vers. 2-4. The psalm of creation: the second day.
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In Genesis we have simply the declaration of how God created the firmament, or the expanse, and what was effected by it. Here we have nothing said of the creation of the firmament, but only of its glory as the habitation of God. That firmament the glorious new-lit cloud caprisoned and star-bespangled heavens, whose beauty and splendour far surpass all human power to set forth, and which is here spoken of as the palace of God was the creation of the second day. The close of the first day saw the creation of the light, but there was as yet no life possible. For that there was needed the gift of God which we call the atmosphere, the air we breathe, that without which no life of plant or animal could be. That wide expanse which surrounds our earth, and in which we live, and move, and have our being, "softer than the softest down, more impalpable than the finest gossamer, it leaves the cobweb undisturbed, and scarcely stirs the lightest flower that feeds on the dew it supplies; yet it bears the fleets of nations on its wings, and crushes the most refractory substances with its weight." But that which is named in Genesis is its power to separate the waters that lie on the surface of the earth from those that float above it. And this it does, first drawing them up in vapour from the sea, and then suspending them in cisterns of clouds, but casting them down again in snow, rain, or dew, when they are required. But all this is full of sacred suggestion in regard to the things of the soul. And this
I IN ITS UPLIFTING.
1. That which the atmosphere does for the cold dark waters which enshrouded the earth, those waters, fit type of the sin-laden soul of man, that does the blessed breath of God accomplish for the human soul. That desolate round earth was taught as it were the law of sacrifice, and yielded up itself to the encompassing breath of God. At once the vapours uprose along the unseen channels of the air, and are no longer desolate and deadly waters, but are transformed and transfigured into the glorious heavens.
2. And this is what is taught also by the ancient law of sacrifice. The worshipper brought his sacrifice, telling of his own will and desire to be surrendered to God the blood, symbol of the will, was poured out; the body that had thus yielded its very life was placed on the altar, and the fire fastened upon it and transformed that cold, material, dead body into a spiritual thing, so that it seemed on the wings of the fire to mount up to God.
3. And this is all true of the human soul. Let that yield itself to the breath of God, and give itself up to the will of God, rising up to him in that blessed self-surrender, and it will be indeed "born again.
II IN ITS GLORIFICATION.
1. See the glorious heavens.
2. See God dwelling in the place of sacrifice.
3. See the present indwelling of God in the surrendered soul, and the soul dwelling with God in the eternal glory hereafter. S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Vers. 2-4. Nature figures of the Divine glory.
These are of peculiar interest, because they appeal to man universally; the language of nature is the common, universal language. Only when men attempt to express their ideas and feelings by the languages of the tongue do they get into confusions and misunderstandings and separations. There is hope of reuniting humanity if it can be brought to heed the voice and witness of nature. Dr. Chalmers shows the connection of this psalm with the preceding one. "It begins, as does Psalm 103., with the view of God"s goodness, but on a different subject; the former psalm being addressed to God, as sitting on a throne of grace; the present psalm to God, as sitting on a throne of nature and of creation; and never have the works of God, and his sovereignty over them, been so magnificently set forth. The glory of the Divine is made palpable, in this psalm, through the medium of the senses.
I THE LORD"S VESTURE. Observe that no attempt is made in Scripture to describe God himself. He can only be known through revelations of himself that he is pleased to make. The immaterial can only be known through the material. God must take form, because man can only apprehend the formal. Moses could only see the "back parts," the afterglow, when the sun had passed down beyond the edge. Eiders only saw a "paved work of sapphire." Isaiah only saw an incense-veiled throne. We can see God"s garments, and argue from them what he must be who is clothed with such a vesture. What a glorious thing is light, sun rays, sunshine! Mysteriously pure; transcendently fine; surpassingly beautiful! It is the robe of God. Royal robes are supposed to represent, with some fitness, royalty. It is true of God that no conceivable robe can be worthy to represent him; it can do no more than suggest him. A young woman gained her sight at the age of twenty-three, by the help of a surgical operation. Looking out upon a sunlit landscape, she exclaimed, "Oh, how beautiful! I never dreamt of anything so beautiful as this." What is he "whose robe is the light"?
II THE LORD"S TENT. By "the heavens" the psalmist means the firmament, the vast blue dome that spans the earth. No doubt the firmament was then conceived as a solid sheet spread out as are the curtains of a tent. The earth was as a tent floor, and those long lines of light which we see between heaven and earth in times of moisture, which do indeed seem to rest in or spring out of the sea, are thought of, by the psalmist, as the poles or pillars of the tent. After unfolding this figure, show that estimates of the wealth and greatness and power of a king are formed from the splendour of his palace and its appointments. Then what must he be whose "canopy is space"?
III THE LORD"S CHARIOT. It is not the terror of tempest clouds that is in the poet"s mind. It is the ever-fascinating sailing of the clouds across the sky, at the impulse of the upper winds. The moving of the vast masses of billowy clouds, ever taking fresh and more fantastic shapes, and now silvered with the midday sun, or tinted with wondrous colouring in the evening light, is a perpetual wonder and joy to all sensitive souls. We judge the status and wealth of our fellow men by their equipages. What, then, must he be who "maketh the clouds his chariot," and, in place of mere horses, is borne away on "the wings of the wind"? So the nature figures bring home to our minds the sublimity of God. These things the heavens, the light, the clouds, the winds are the sublimest things that come into the field of human knowledge and observation. They are not God, they are only something God has made; only something God uses; only something that may suggest what cannot be altogether conceived. Impress that rightly reverent, adoring, wondering views of God ought to be encouraged. We all need to have his glory as well as his grace ever kept before us. Professor Agassiz even points out the importance of right impressions of God to the scientific man. "I tell you that my experience in prolonged scientific investigations, convinces me that a belief in God, a God who is behind and within the chaos of vanishing points of human knowledge, adds a wonderful stimulus to the man who attempts to penetrate into the regions of the unknown. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 2. Who coverest thyself with light as with…
Ver. 2. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: wrapping the light about him as a monarch puts on his robe. The conception is sublime: but it makes us feel how altogether inconceivable the personal glory of the Lord must be; if light itself is but his garment and veil, what must be the blazing splendour of his own essential being! We are lost in astonishment, and dare not pry into the mystery lest we be blinded by its insufferable glory.
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain within which he might dwell. Light was created on the first day and the firmament upon the second, so that they fitly follow each other in this verse. Oriental princes put on their glorious apparel and then sit in state within curtains, and the Lord is spoken of under that image: but how far above all comprehension the figure must be lifted, since the robe is essential light, to which suns and moons owe their brightness, and the curtain is the azure sky studded with stars for gems. This is a substantial argument for the truth with which the psalmist commenced his song, "O Lord my God, thou art very great."
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Ver. 2. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment. In comparing the light with which he represents God as arrayed to a garment, he intimates, that although God is invisible, yet his glory is conspicuous enough. In respect of his essence, God undoubtedly dwells in light that is inaccessible; but as he irradiates the whole world by his splendour, this is the garment in which he, who is hidden in himself, appears in a manner visible to us. The knowledge of this truth is of the greatest importance. If men attempt to reach the infinite height to which God is exalted, although they fly above the clouds, they must fail in the midst of their course. Those who seek to see him in his naked majesty are certainly very foolish. That we may enjoy the sight of him, he must come forth to view with his clothing; that is to say, we must cast our eyes upon the very beautiful fabric of the world in which he wishes to be seen by us, and not be too curious and rash in searching into his secret essence. Now, since God presents himself to us clothed with light, those who are seeking pretexts for their living without the knowledge of him, cannot allege in excuse of their slothfulness, that he is hidden in profound darkness. When it is said that the heavens are a curtain, it is not meant that under them God hides himself, but that by them his majesty and glory are displayed, being, as it were, his royal pavilion. John Calvin.
Ver. 2. With light. The first creation of God in the works of the days was the light of sense; the last was the light of reason; and his Sabbath work ever since is the illumination of the spirit. Francis Bacon.
Ver. 2. Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain. It is usual in the East, in the summer season, and upon all occasions when a large company is to be received, to have the court of the house sheltered from the heat of the weather by all umbrella or veil, which being expanded upon ropes from one side of the parapet wall to another may be folded or unfolded at pleasure. The Psalmist seems to allude to some covering of this kind in that beautiful expression of stretching out the heavens like a curtain. Kitto's Pictorial Bible.
Ver. 2. Like a curtain. With the same case, by his mere word, with which a man spreads out a tent curtain, Ps 104:2 Isa 40:22 is parallel, "that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." Ver. 3 continues the description of the work of the second day. There lie at bottom, in the first clause, the words of Ge 1:7 "God made the vaulted sky and divided between the waters which are under the vault and the waters which are above the vault." The waters above are the materials with which, or out of which, the structure is reared. To construct out of the movable waters a firm palace, the cloudy heaven, "firm as a molten glass" (Job 37:18), is a magnificent work of divine omnipotence. E.V. Hengstenberg.
Ver. 2. Like a curtain. Because the Hebrews conceived of heaven as a temple and palace of God, that sacred azure was at once the floor of his, the roof of our, abode. Yet I think the dwellers in tents ever loved best the figure of the heavenly tent. They represent God as daily spreading it out, and fastening it at the extremity of the horizon to the pillars of heaven, the mountains: it is to them a tent of safety, of rest, of a fatherly hospitality in which God lives with his creatures. Herder, quoted by Perowne.
Ver. 2 (first clause). The clearest revelation of God is still a concealment; even light is but a covering to him. God is clothed with light as we see him in his omniscience, his holiness, his revelation, his glory, in heaven and his grace on earth.
Psalms 104:3*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 104:2-4 The psalmist interacts with two of the days…
104:2-4 The psalmist interacts with two of the days of creation (see Gen 1:1-8), when God created the heavens and light.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.