What Does Psalm 104:7 Mean in the King James?

At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

Psalm 104:7 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The waters’ vastness does not make them permanent; at God’s voice, they retreat.

THE MEANING

What seems to fill every space does not have the final word: God’s rebuke reaches the waters, and they withdraw. The verse speaks now wherever overwhelm feels limitless: even what covers the horizon can be answered by a voice with authority.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that whatever overwhelms the whole horizon must be immovable is undone here: even the waters withdraw at the voice that rebukes them.

THE ROOT

יֵחָפֵזוּן

yēḥāpēzûn

GROWS FROM

חפז

To hurry in alarm, flee in haste.

“Hasted away” can sound like a neutral change of speed, but ⁨חפז⁩ carries urgency under alarm: the waters are driven into retreat. The same root’s noun for haste describes an urgent departure, giving this movement an exodus-shaped echo.

ALSO GROWS

chaphaz: To hurry or be alarmed.

חָפַז

The verb’s urgency makes the waters’ retreat feel like a response to a force they cannot withstand.

chippazon: Haste; urgent departure.

חִפָּזוֹן

This noun appears in Exodus 12:11 for the haste of departure from Egypt, linking the waters’ retreat with movement out of constriction.

THE PATTERN

When God’s word sets a boundary, what overwhelms the scene withdraws or settles.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

Genesis 1:9 · KJVAt God’s spoken word, the waters move into bounds and dry land appears.

And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

Job 38:11 · KJVThe waves meet a boundary spoken with authority, and their advance stops.

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Mark 4:39 · KJVA rebuke and a spoken command bring the wind and sea to stillness.

THE THREAD

And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s passover.

Exodus 12:11 · KJV

The root ⁨חפז⁩ behind “hasted away” also appears as ⁨חִפָּזוֹן⁩, “haste,” in Exodus 12:11. One root links the waters’ urgent retreat with departure out of constriction, giving this verse an exodus-shaped depth.

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