There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

PSALMS 104:26KJV
Know the Bible

Psalms 104:26 (KJV)

What does Psalms 104:26 mean?

Psalms 104:26 describes how ships travel across the sea and mentions a great creature called leviathan, which God made to play in the water. The verse highlights God’s creative power over both human activity (the ships) and the mysterious creatures of the deep.

The psalmist is speaking to God, celebrating the wonders of creation. The setting is a poetic description of the sea, showing both everyday sights (ships) and the awe-inspiring unknown (leviathan). The verse points to God’s control and delight in all that exists, from human inventions to the largest sea creatures.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 104:26

  • go (הָלַךְ, halakh): This word means "to go" or "to walk." Here, it describes the movement of ships across the sea, emphasizing their active presence and travel.
  • ships (אֳנִיָּה, oniyah): This is the common Hebrew word for ships or vessels. Its use shows that the psalmist is referring to real, everyday human activity on the sea.
  • leviathan (לִוְיָתָן, livyatan): This word refers to a large, mysterious sea creature, often imagined as a sea monster or dragon. Its mention adds a sense of wonder and mystery, showing that God made even the most powerful and unknown beings.
  • made (יָצַר, yatsar): This word means "to form" or "to shape." It stresses that God intentionally created leviathan, not as a threat, but as a creature that plays in the sea.
  • play (שָׂחַק, sachaq): This word means "to play" or "to frolic." It suggests that leviathan is not just surviving but enjoying the sea, highlighting God’s generosity and the joy found in creation.

Why Psalms 104:26 matters

  • Psalms 104:26 clears up the idea that the sea is only a place of danger; it shows both human mastery (ships) and God’s delight in wild creatures (leviathan).
  • The verse emphasizes that everything in the sea, from what people build to what they cannot control, is under God’s care and design.
  • This verse connects to the wider psalm, which praises God for the variety and richness of creation, reminding readers that both the ordinary and the extraordinary are part of God’s world.

Where else these words appear

“leviathan” Hebrew H3882 · used in 5 verses

  • Job 3:8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.
  • Job 41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
  • Psalms 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

“ships” Hebrew H591 · used in 28 verses

  • Genesis 49:13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
  • 2 Chronicles 20:37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
  • Isaiah 43:14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

“play” Hebrew H7832 · used in 36 verses

  • Judges 16:25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
  • Job 30:1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
  • Proverbs 8:30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

“made” Hebrew H3335 · used in 55 verses

  • Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
  • Isaiah 41:25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
  • Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.