Psalms 114 · Verse 3

Psalms 114:3

The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
Psalms 114:3, King James Version

Psalms 114:3 in other translations

BSBThe sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back;
WEBThe sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back.
ASVThe sea saw it, and fled; The Jordan was driven back.
YLTThe sea hath seen, and fleeth, The Jordan turneth backward.
DARBYThe sea saw it and fled, the Jordan turned back;
BBEThe sea saw it, and went in flight; Jordan was turned back.
WebsterThe sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.

What does Psalms 114:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 114:1-4

Psa 114:1-8. The writer briefly and beautifully celebrates God's former care of His people, to whose benefit nature was miraculously made to contribute. 1-4. of strange language--(compare Psa 81:5).

Read the full comment on Psalms 114:1-4 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 The sea saw it, and fled - Mr. Addison has properly observed (see Spect. No. 461) that the author of this Psalm designedly works for effect, in pointing out the miraculous driving back the Red Sea and the river Jordan, and the commotion of the hills and mountains, without mentioning any agent. At last, when the reader sees the sea rapidly retiring from the shore, Jordan retreating to its source, and the mountains and hills running away like a flock of affrighted sheep, that the passage of the Israelites might be every where uninterrupted; then the cause of all is suddenly introduced, and the presence of God in his grandeur solves every difficulty.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Psalms 114:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הַיָּ֣םhai.Yamthe seaH3220
רָ֭אָהRa.'ahit sawH7200
וַיָּנֹ֑סvai.ya.Nosand it fledH5127
הַ֝יַּרְדֵּ֗ןhai.yar.Denthe JordanH3383
יִסֹּ֥בyi.Soit turned aroundH5437
לְאָחֽוֹר\׃le.'a.Chorto backwardsH268

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 114:3

  • Exodus 14:21

    And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

  • Psalms 77:16

    The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.

  • Habakkuk 3:8-9

    Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

  • Joshua 3:13-16

    And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

  • Habakkuk 3:15

    Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

  • Isaiah 63:12

    That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?

  • Psalms 74:15

    Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

  • Psalms 106:9

    He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.

  • Exodus 15:8

    And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

  • Psalms 104:7

    At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
sea.
77:16; 104:7; 106:9; Ex 14:21; 15:8; Isa 63:12; Hab 3:8,15
Jordan.
74:15; Jos 3:13-16; Hab 3:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 114:2

    Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

  • Psalms 114:3

    The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.

  • Psalms 114:4

    The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

Read all of Psalms 114

Psalms 114:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		La mar vió, y huyó; el Jordán se volvió atrás.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		La mer le vit, et s’enfuit; le Jourdain retourna en arrière;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Das Meer sah es und floh, der Jordan wandte sich zurück;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Circumdederunt me dolores mortis; et pericula inferni invenerunt me. Tribulationem et dolorem inveni,