Psalm 104

Psalm 104 (Greek numbering: Psalm 103) is one of the psalms from the Book of Psalms of the Hebrew Bible. It is notable among the psalms for describing YHWH (Elohim) explicitly as the creator deity. German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder remarked, "It is worth studying the Hebrew language for ten years in order to read Psalm 104 in the original".

The subject matter and its presentation is closely related both to the first Genesis creation narrative (Genesis 1, chronologically younger than the second version in Genesis 2) where likewise the waters are separated before the creation of Sun and Moon, and to older accounts of creation from the Ancient Near East, both Mesopotamian and Egyptian. In particular, the Egyptian Great Hymn to the Aten (14th century BC) is frequently cited as a predecessor.

One of the longer psalms, it is traditionally divided into 35 verses. begins by describing the glory of God ("Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment" v. 2). Verse 5 asserts that God has "laid the foundations [מכון] of the Earth". Verses 6 to 13 concern the ordering of the waters, verses 14-18 vegetation and animal life, 19-24 Sun and Moon and the cycle of day and night.

Verse 26 mentions the Leviathan (sea monster).

Verses 27-30 emphasises how all creature still depend on the ongoing attention and provision by the creator, and perish if he averts his attention.

The concluding verses 31-35 reiterate the power and glory of YHWH, and the composer expresses his adoration, and, in the final verse, his wish that the sinners (חטא) and wicked (רשע) be "consumed out of the earth). In the Masoretic text, the phrase Hallelujah is placed at the end of the final verse. This is lacking in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, but it is rendered by the KJV as "Praise ye the LORD".

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