You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.
Parallel Translations
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You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.
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Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
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Thou didst cleave fountain and brook; Thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Psalms 74:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 20:11 Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.
- Exodus 17:5-6 Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
- Psalms 105:41 He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.
- Isaiah 48:21 They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and the waters gushed out.
- Joshua 2:10 For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
- Joshua 3:13-17 It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.” When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people, and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho. The priests who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.
- Exodus 14:21-22 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.
- 2 Kings 2:8 Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground.
- Psalms 78:15 He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
- Isaiah 11:16 There will be a highway for the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, like there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
- Isaiah 44:27 who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’ and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’
- Habakkuk 3:9 You uncovered your bow. You called for your sworn arrows. You split the earth with rivers.
- Revelation 16:12 The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise.
- 2 Kings 2:14 He took Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided apart, and Elisha went over.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 74:15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the…
Psa 74:15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
Ver. 15. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood] i.e. Fontium et torrentium scatebras et latebras, thou didst set the rock abroach once and again, Exo 17:6 Num 20:11, rescissis ipsius naturae legibus.
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Thou driedst up mighty rivers] Jordan (wherein some say met two great rivers, Jor and Dan), whereunto the Chaldee here addeth Arnon and Jabbok, whereof see Num 21:14 Deu 2:37.
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 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood, i.e.…
Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood, i.e. thou didst by cleaving the rock make a fountain in it, and a flood or stream to flow from it, for the refreshment of thy people in those dry deserts. The phrase is like that Isa 47:2, grind meal, i.e. by grinding the corn make meal.
Mighty rivers; either,
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1. Jordan, which was then more mighty than ordinarily, as having overflowed all his banks, and therefore may be called rivers, because it was now equivalent to two or three such rivers; or it is only an ensilage of the plural number for the singular, whereof I have given many instances formerly. Or rather,
2. Both Jordan and the Red Sea; for the sea itself, yea, a greater sea than that, is called a river, Jon 2:3; for the Hebrew word is the same which is here used, though there it be rendered floods. And the same title is expressly given to the sea by Homer and other ancient writers. To these the ancient Chaldee interpreter addeth the rivers of Amen and Jabbok, in or about which some extraordinary work was wrought, yea, something which was like God’s work at the Red Sea, as may seem by the conjunction of these together, Num 21:14.
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 The day is thine, and the night also is…
The day is thine, and the night also is thine,.... He made the one and the other, and divided the one from the other; and can make them longer or shorter, clear or cloudy, as he pleases: and the day of prosperity and night of adversity are at his disposal; all the times of his people and of his church are in his hands; sometimes it is a night of darkness, deadness, sleepiness, and security, as it now is; ere long there will be no more night, but bright day; the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven fold as the light of seven days; and this is to be expected from him whose is the day and the night also, Rev 21:25. Jarchi interprets the day, of the redemption of Israel; and the night, of distresses and afflictions:
thou hast prepared the light and the sun; first the light, and then the sun; for the light was before the sun; or the luminary, even the sun. Aben Ezra interprets the "light" of the moon, and so the Targum; and Kimchi, both of the moon and of the stars; Jarchi takes the light figuratively to be meant of the light of the law; but it is much better to understand it of the light of the Gospel, which God has prepared, and will send forth more largely in the latter day, whereby the whole earth shall be lightened; and when Christ the "sun" of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings, and who gives both the light of grace and glory to his people.
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 The flood - Thou didst by cleaving the rock,…
The flood - Thou didst by cleaving the rock, make a fountain and a stream to flow from it, for the refreshment of thy people in those dry deserts. Driedst - Jordan and the Red Sea; for the sea itself; yea, a greater sea than that, is called a river, Jonah ii, 3, where the Hebrew word is the same which is here used. And the same title is expressly given to the sea, by Homer, and other ancient writers.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Thou didst cleave the fountain] Thou didst…
Verse 15. Thou didst cleave the fountain] Thou didst cleave the rock in the wilderness, of which all the congregation drank.
Thou driedst up mighty rivers.] Does not this refer to the cutting off the waters of the Jordan, so that the people passed over dryshod?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 74:15. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the…
Psa 74:15. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood — That is, thou didst, by cleaving the rock, make a fountain in it, and a flood or stream to flow from it, for the refreshment of thy people in those dry deserts. Thou driedst up mighty rivers — Hebrew, נהרות איתןrivers of strength. The Seventy, however, render it, ποταμους ηθαμ, taking the latter word, eethan, for a proper name. Undoubtedly Jordan is meant: so that “two other remarkable exertions of the divine power, in favour of the Israelites, are here referred to. Water was brought out of the rock to satisfy their thirst in the time of drought; and the river Jordan was dried up to open the passage for them into Canaan.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood -…
Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood - That is, the source of the streams and the streams themselves. The main allusion is probably to the Jordan, and the idea is, that God had, as it were, divided all the waters, or prevented any obstruction to his people from the river in any respect; as if the waters in the very springs and fountains, and the waters in the channel of the river flowing from those springs and fountains, had been so restrained and divided that there was a safe passage through them. Jos 3:14-17.
Thou driedst up mighty rivers - Margin, “rivers of strength.” The Hebrew - איתן 'êythân - (compare Deu 21:4; Amo 5:24; 1Ki 8:2) - means rather perennial, constant, ever-flowing. The allusion is to rivers or streams that flow constantly, or that do not dry up. It was this which made the miracle so apparent. It could not be pretended that they had gone over the bed of a stream which was accustomed to be dry at certain seasons of the year. They passed over rivers that never dried up; and, therefore, it could have been only by miracle. The main allusion is undoubtedly to the passage of the Jordan.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15. Driedst up mighty rivers—This was done when he…
15. Driedst up mighty rivers—This was done when he dried up the rivers of the desert after having miraculously created them. See note on Psa_78:15, and when he “dried up the waters of Jordan.” Jos_4:23
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 15. Thou didst cleave fountain and torrent:
15. Thou didst cleave fountain and torrent:
Thou didst dry up perennial rivers.
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God’s omnipotence was shewn alike in cleaving the rock so that water flowed out (Exo_17:6; Num_20:8; Psa_78:15; Isa_48:21), and in drying up the perennial stream of the Jordan (Joshua 3; Jos_4:23).
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 (15) Thou didst cleave . . .—Another pregnant expression…
(15) Thou didst cleave . . .—Another pregnant expression for “thou didst cleave the rock, and a fountain came forth.”
Flood.—Better, brook. Heb., nâchal.
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Mighty rivers.—See margin. But, perhaps, rather. rivers of constant flow, that did not dry up in summer like the “brooks.” The same word is used of the sea (Exo_14:27), to express the return to the regular flow of the tide.
The verb “driest up” is that used (Jos_2:10) of the Red Sea, and Jos_4:23; Jos_5:1 of the Jordan.
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 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood; rather,…
Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood; rather, and the torrent. (comp. Exo_17:6 Num_20:11) Thou driedst up mighty rivers; i.e. the Jordan. (Jos_3:13, et seqq.)
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. 15. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the…
Ver. 15. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood. Jordan was divided by Jehovah's power; the Lord is able to repeat his miracles, what he did with a sea, he can do with a river; lesser difficulties shall be removed as well as greater ones. Perhaps the fountain refers to the smitten rock, which from its cleft poured forth a perpetual stream; so the Lord opens to us springs of water in the wilderness.
Thou driedst up mighty rivers, rivers which were permanent, and not like the transient torrents of the land, were dried up for awhile; the Jordan itself, being such, was laid dry for a season. Observe the repetition of the pronoun "thou; "the song is all for God, and the prayer is all directed to him. The argument is that he who wrought such wonders would be pleased to do the like now that an emergency had arisen.
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Ver. 15. Flood. God in dividing Jordan did not only divide the water that ordinarily belonged to the river, or the water which came from its fountains, but also the extraordinary additional waters by the great rains a little before harvest. So God cleaved both the fountain, i.e., the fountain water, and the flood. Jonathan Edwards.
Ver. 15. The wonderful nature of gracious supplies, illustrated by the smitten rock.
Psalms 74:16*
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 74:15 springs and streams to gush forth: God provided…
74:15 springs and streams to gush forth: God provided water in the desert for his people (see 68:8-9; Exod 17:6); he dried up the Red Sea (Exod 14:21) and the Jordan River (Josh 3:17).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.