Psalms 48 · Verse 7

Psalms 48:7

Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
Psalms 48:7, King James Version

Psalms 48:7 in other translations

BSBWith a wind from the east You wrecked the ships of Tarshish.
WEBWith the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.
ASVWith the east wind Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish.
YLTBy an east wind Thou shiverest ships of Tarshish.
DARBYWith an east wind thou hast broken the ships of Tarshish.
BBEBy you the ships of Tarshish are broken as by an east wind.
WebsterThou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

What does Psalms 48:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
7. ships of Tarshish--as engaged in a distant and lucrative trade, the most valuable. The phrase may illustrate God's control over all material agencies, whether their literal destruction be meant or not.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish - Calmet thinks this may refer to the discomfiture of Cambyses, who came to destroy the land of Judea. "This is apparently," says he, "the same tempest which struck dismay into the land-forces of Cambyses, and wrecked his fleet which was on the coasts of the Mediterranean sea, opposite to his army near the port of Acco, or the Ptolemais; for Cambyses had his quarters at Ecbatana, at the foot of Mount Carmel; and his army was encamped in the valley of Jezreel." Ships of Tarshish he conjectures to have been large stout vessels, capable of making the voyage of Tarsus, in Cilicia.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 48:1-7

The glories of the church of Christ. Verses 1-7 Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected that we should abound in his praises. The…

Read the full comment on Psalms 48:1-7 →

Psalms 48:7 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.

בְּר֥וּחַbe.Ru.achwith a wind ofH7307
קָדִ֑יםka.Dim[the] eastH6921
תְּ֝שַׁבֵּ֗רte.sha.Beryou shatterH7665
אֳנִיּ֥וֹת'o.ni.Yot<the> ships ofH591
תַּרְשִֽׁישׁ\׃tar.ShishTarshishH8659

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

Cross references for Psalms 48:7

  • Jeremiah 18:17

    I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

  • 1 Kings 22:48

    Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion–geber.

  • Ezekiel 27:25-26

    The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.

  • Isaiah 2:16

    And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

  • 1 Kings 10:22

    For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
breakest.
Eze 27:25,26
ships.
1Ki 22:48; Isa 2:16
east.
Jer 18:17

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

Context

  • Psalms 48:6

    Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

  • Psalms 48:7

    Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

  • Psalms 48:8

    As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.

Read all of Psalms 48

Psalms 48:7 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Con viento solano quiebras tú las naves de Tharsis.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Là, le tremblement les a saisis, une angoisse comme celle de la femme qui enfante.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Durch den Ostwind zertrümmertest du die Tarsisschiffe.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Qui confidunt in virtute sua, et in multitudine divitiarum suarum, gloriantur.