So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

PSALMS 104:25KJV
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What does Psalms 104:25 mean?

Psalms 104:25 describes the vastness and richness of the sea, highlighting that it is filled with countless living creatures, both small and large. The verse points out the diversity and abundance of life in the ocean as part of God’s creation.

The psalmist is speaking to God, marveling at the natural world as a reflection of God’s wisdom and power. This verse comes in the middle of a poetic celebration of creation, where the writer lists different parts of the world—land, sky, and now the sea—to show how all of nature is full of life and variety, beyond what anyone could count.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 104:25

  • "great" (גָּדוֹל, gadol): This word means "large" or "mighty." Here, it emphasizes the impressive size and power of the sea.
  • "wide" (רָחָב, rachav): This word means "broad" or "expansive." It stresses the sea’s vastness, suggesting it stretches far beyond what the eye can see.
  • "creeping" (רֶמֶשׂ, remes): This word refers to small, moving creatures—often those that crawl or swarm. In this context, it highlights the many forms of life in the sea, especially the smaller, less noticeable ones.
  • "innumerable" (אֵין מִסְפָּר, ein mispar): This phrase means "without number" or "countless." It underlines the idea that the sea is teeming with so many creatures that they cannot be counted.

Why Psalms 104:25 matters

  • This verse clears up the idea that only land is full of life; it shows the sea is just as alive and complex, filled with creatures of every size.
  • The verse emphasizes God’s creativity and attention to detail, as even the smallest sea creatures are included in the psalmist’s praise.
  • In the context of Psalm 104, this verse connects the sea to the rest of creation, helping the reader see the whole world as a unified, living work shaped by God’s wisdom.

Where else these words appear

“creeping” Hebrew H7431 · used in 17 verses

  • Genesis 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
  • Genesis 7:14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
  • 1 Kings 4:33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

“wide” Hebrew H7342 · used in 21 verses

  • Genesis 34:21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
  • Nehemiah 7:4 Now the city was large and great: but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded.
  • Psalms 119:96 I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

“small” Hebrew H6996 · used in 100 verses

  • Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
  • 1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
  • 2 Chronicles 31:15 And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:

“innumerable” Hebrew H4557 · used in 129 verses

  • Genesis 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
  • Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
  • Ezra 2:2 Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: