floods," and (Psalm cxxxvi.
6) "stretched out the earth above the waters." This for the most part
means simply that the water surface lies lower than the land surface.
But there are waters,--other than those of the ocean,--which are, in a
strict sense, beneath the earth; the subterranean waters, which though
in the very substance of the earth, and existing there in an altogether
different way from the great masses of water we see upon the surface,
form a water system, which may legitimately be termed a kind of ocean
underground. From these subterranean waters our springs issue forth, and
it is these waters we tap in our wells. Of the cedar in Lebanon Ezekiel
spoke: "The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her
rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers
(_margin_, conduits) unto all the trees of the field." The "deep,"
_teh[=o]m_, applies therefore, not merely to the restless waters of the
ocean, but to these unseen waters as well; and means, not merely
"surging waters," but depths of any kind. When in the great Deluge the
floodgates of heaven were opened, these "fountains of the great deep
were broken up" as well. And later both fountains and windows were
"stopped." So the Lord asks Job, "Hast thou entered into the springs of
the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?" and in
Proverbs it is said of the Lord, "By His knowledge the depths are broken
up, and the clouds drop down the dew."

The tides upon the sea-coast of Palestine are very slight, but some have
seen a reference to them in Jer. v. 22 where the Lord says, I "have
placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it
cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can
they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it." More
probably the idea to be conveyed is merely that of the restraint of the
sea to its proper basin, as in the passage where the Lord asks Job, "Who
shut up the sea with doors when it brake forth, as if it had issued out
of the womb?" And the writer of Proverbs sums all up:--

"When He prepared the heavens I [Wisdom] was there: when He
set a compass upon the face of the depth: when He established
the clouds above: when He strengthened the fountains of the
deep: when He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters
should not pass His commandment: when He appointed the
foundations of the earth."

FOOTN