Mazmur 104:2-4

104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.

He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,

104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. ¹ 

He makes the clouds his chariot,

and travels along on the wings of the wind. ² 

104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,

and the flaming fire his attendant. ³ 

Mazmur 104:10

104:10 He turns springs into streams; ⁴ 

they flow between the mountains.

Mazmur 104:13-14

104:13 He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace; ⁵ 

the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow. ⁶ 

104:14 He provides grass ⁷  for the cattle,

and crops for people to cultivate, ⁸ 

so they can produce food from the ground, ⁹ 

[104:3]  ¹ tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.

[104:3]  ² sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.

[104:4]  ³ tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).

[104:4]  sn In Ugaritic mythology Yam’s messengers appear as flaming fire before the assembly of the gods. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 42.

[104:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “[the] one who sends springs into streams.” Another option is to translate, “he sends streams [i.e., streams that originate from springs] into the valleys” (cf. NIV).

[104:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “from his upper rooms.”

[104:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the fruit of your works the earth is full.” The translation assumes that “fruit” is literal here. If “fruit” is understood more abstractly as “product; result,” then one could translate, “the earth flourishes as a result of your deeds” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB).

[104:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”

[104:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).

[104:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”