Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

PSALMS 114:8KJV
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Psalms 114:8 (KJV)

What does Psalms 114:8 mean?

Psalms 114:8 describes how God turned solid rock into pools of water and hard flint into flowing springs, showing His power to provide for His people in miraculous ways. The verse highlights a moment when God met the Israelites’ needs during their journey out of Egypt by bringing water from unlikely places.

The psalm is a song celebrating God’s mighty acts during Israel’s escape from slavery. The writer is recalling the time in the wilderness when the Israelites were thirsty, and God provided water from a rock. This verse points to God’s ability to transform even the hardest situations, using the imagery of rock and flint—materials known for their hardness—to emphasize the wonder of water flowing from them.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 114:8

  • "rock" (צוּר, tsur): This word refers to a large, solid rock or cliff, not just a small stone, stressing the impossibility of water coming from such a source.
  • "flint" (חַלָּמִישׁ, challamish): Flint is a very hard type of rock, often used for tools or starting fires, making the image of water springing from it even more surprising.
  • "fountain" (מַעְיָן, ma‘yan): This word means a spring or fountain, suggesting not just a little water, but a continual, life-giving flow.
  • "standing water" (אֲגַם, agam): This term is used for a pool or body of collected water, showing that the miracle was abundant, not just a trickle.

Why Psalms 114:8 matters

  • This verse clears up any idea that God’s help was ordinary; it emphasizes that He provided in ways that defied natural expectations.
  • The focus on rock and flint highlights the theme of transformation—God brings life and relief where it seems impossible.
  • In the context of the psalm, this verse ties the Israelites’ past deliverance to God’s ongoing power and faithfulness, encouraging trust in Him.

Where else these words appear

“flint” Hebrew H2496 · used in 5 verses

  • Deuteronomy 8:15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
  • Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;
  • Job 28:9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.

“standing” Hebrew H98 · used in 9 verses

  • Exodus 7:19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
  • Psalms 107:35 He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.
  • Isaiah 41:18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

“fountain” Hebrew H4599 · used in 23 verses

  • Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
  • 2 Kings 3:25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
  • Proverbs 8:24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

“rock” Hebrew H6697 · used in 74 verses

  • Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
  • 1 Chronicles 11:15 Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
  • Psalms 78:35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.