Psalms 104:18

18 The high mountains are for the 1wild goats; The 2cliffs are a refuge for the 3shephanim.

Psalms 104:18 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 104:18

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats
Who have their name in Hebrew F4 from their climbing and ascending them. What we commonly call "a wild goose chase" should be expressed "a wild goat's chase"; for not geese, but goats, are chased; and when they are, they flee to the hills for refuge. Hence they are sometimes called the wild goats of the rocks, ( Job 39:1 ) , and sometimes the rocks are called from them the rocks of wild goats, ( 1 Samuel 24:2 ) . The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it "for the harts", or deer; and so Apollinarius: but the word is not used of them.

And the rocks for the conies;
who being a feeble folk, make their houses in them, to protect them from creatures of superior power and strength, ( Proverbs 30:26 ) . Some interpret it of the "hedgehog", as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions: others of "hares", as the Syriac and Arabic, and so Apollinarius; and others of "mountain mice". Now what the hills and rocks are to the above creatures, a refuge and a habitation for them, that Christ is to those that fly to him for refuge; though weak and feeble, sinful and unworthy, he is their rock, the rock of their refuge, their strong tower, and place of defence.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Myley) ab (hle) Buxtorf. Lexic. fol. 322.

Psalms 104:18 In-Context

16 The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim.
19 He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting.
20 You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about.

Cross References 3

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Small, shy, furry animals "(Hyrax syriacus") found in the peninsula of the Sinai, northern Israel, and the region round the Dead Sea; KJV "coney," orig NASB "rock badgers"
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