So is this great and wide sea
One of the great and manifold works of God, made in his wisdom,
and full of his riches and possessions, as the earth is; this is
that collection of waters which God called seas, ( Genesis 1:10
) and is, as Kimchi observes, great in length, and wide and
spacious in breadth; or "broad of hands" F9, as in
the original; or spacious in borders, as the Targum; it washing
the several parts of the continent, and encompassing and
embracing the whole earth with both arms as it were. Nor is it
unusual with other writers to call the sea the great sea
F11, and to speak of an arm or arms of
the sea F12, as we do. Isidore says F13, the
great sea is that which flows out of the ocean from the west, and
goes to the south, and then to the north, called so in comparison
of other seas that are less, and is the Mediterranean sea, This
is an emblem of the world, which may be compared to the sea for
the multitude of nations and people in it, as numerous as the
waves of the sea; for the temper of the inhabitants of it, being
like the troubled sea, restless and uneasy, casting up the mire
of dirt and sin; and for the instability of it, and the
fluctuating state and condition of all things in it.
Wherein are things creeping innumerable;
so that it seems there are reptiles in the water as well as on
land; and indeed every creature without feet, and that goes upon
its belly, in the element where it is, whether earth or water, is
a creeping thing; of these swimming or creeping things the number
is exceeding great, especially of the latter sort; fishes
increasing much more than the beasts of the earth. Their species
are innumerable; so their kinds or sorts are reckoned up by some
one hundred and forty four F14, by others one hundred and
fifty three F15, and by others one hundred and
seventy six F16; the Malabarians reckon, up 900,000
fishes, and 1,100,000 creeping things F17. These
are an emblem of the common people of the world, which are
innumerable; see ( Habakkuk
1:14 ) .
Both small and great beasts;
for there are creatures in the seas which answer to those on the
dry land, both of the lesser and greater sort, as sea lions, sea
horses, sea cows, sea hogs these may represent the rulers and
governors of the world, supreme and subordinate; it is no unusual
thing for great monarchies, and persons of great power and
authority, to be signified by beasts rising out of the sea, (
Daniel 7:3 ) (
Revelation 13:1 ) .