Psalm 33:7 - Heap, Wineskin, or Jar?

Back to Psalm 33.

Exegetical issues for Psalm 33:

• Participles in Ps. 33:7
• Psalm 33:7 - Heap, Wineskin, or Jar?
• Ps 33:20-21 - Praise for Salvation?

Introduction

The MT of Ps 33:7 reads as follows:

כֹּנֵס כַּנֵּד מֵי הַיָּם נֹתֵן בְּאֹצָרוֹת תְּהוֹמוֹת

The interpretation of the second term of this verse, כַּנֵּד, is controversial. The meaning of the phrase, as it appears in the MT, is probably "like in a heap, wall, hill, or mound." When read this way, verse 7 contains multiple echoes of the Song of the Sea at the Exodus. However, the LXX translates it as "like in a wineskin" (ὡς ἀσκόν), apparently by reading it as though it had an elided letter and a vocalization that differs from the Masoretic tradition (כְּנֹ(א)ד). Other scholars have proposed that the word should be revocalized as כֶּנֶד and translated "(in) a jar, bottle," based on similar words in Ugaritic and Akkadian.

The following are representative translations:

• He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. (ESV; cf. NEB, CSB, NJB, JPS85)
• as he gathers the waters of the sea like a wineskin, as he puts the deeps into storehouses. (NETS)
• He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. (NIV; cf. NRSV, NVI)

Additionally, many translations omit the word altogether (NET, CEV, GNT, NLT).

Argument Maps

Heap (preferred)

This argument map shows the preferred reading, which is to follow the MT vocalization כַּנֵּד. This option is found in the ESV: "He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses."

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[Heap]: The reading כַּנֵּד ("as a heap") in Ps 33:7 is the best reading. 
 + <Ancient support>: The MT, the Qumran manuscript 4QPs-q, and the Greek translation known as "Quinta" support the reading כַּנֵּד ("as a heap").
  + [MT]: כֹּנֵ֣ס כַּ֭נֵּד מֵ֣י הַיָּ֑ם
  + [4QPs-q]: כונס כנד מי
  <_ <Ambiguous>: The reading כנד in 4QPs-q could also support the "wineskin" interpretation (כְּנֹד) and the "jar" interpretation (כֶּנֶד). #dispreferred
   - <Qumran spelling>: The spelling in 4QPs-q consistently requires a ''waw'' to represent an o-vowel. There is no ''waw'' in the word כנד, meaning that the "heap" (כַּנֵּד) and "jar" (כֶּנֶד) interpretations are possible, but the "wineskin" (כְּנֹד) interpretation is not.
  + [Quinta]: συνάγων ὡς σωρὸν ὕδατα — "gathering waters as a heap." 
 + <Red Sea Crossing>: Ps 33:7 probably refers to the Red Sea crossing, and the word נֵד is regularly used to describe this event.
  + [Exod 15:8]: "At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap (כְמֹו־נֵד)" (Exod 15:8 ESV; cf. Ps 78:13 \[מַיִם כְּמֹו־נֵד\]).
  + <Song of the Sea>: Ps 33 shares many thematic and lexical elements with the Song of the Sea (Exod 15), which celebrates the Red Sea crossing.
  + <Lexical parallels>: There are many lexical parallels between the Song of the Sea and Ps 33.
   +[Lexical parallels]: E.g., "horse" (Exod 15:1; Ps 33:17); "breath/wind" (Exod 15:8, 10; Ps 33:6); "loyalty" (Exod 15:13; Ps 33:5, 18, 22); "deeps" (Exod 15:5, 8; Ps 33:7) 
  + <Thematic parallels>: Exod 15 and Ps 33 share thematic parallels.
   + [Thematic parallels]: E.g. victory in battle (Exod 15:6-7; Ps 33:16-17, 20); plans of the nations (Exod 15:9-10; Ps 33:10-11); YHWH's supremacy over other gods (Exod 15:11; Ps 33:12); fearing YHWH (Exod 15:14-16a; Ps 33:8)
  <_ <Red sea connection incorrect>: The Masoretes incorrectly assumed a connection to the miracle in the Red Sea and vocalize the text as כַּנֵּד (Baethgen 1904, 93 :C:).#dispreferred
 + <A stock metaphor>: "Parallels in Exod. 15:8, Ps. 78:13; and Josh. 3:13, 16 show that the image of the waters dammed up behind a wall was a stock metaphor in Israelite poetry and should be retained" (deClaissé-Walford 2014, 312 n. 8 :C:).
  + [Exod 15:8]
  + [Ps 78:13]: "He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap (כְּמֹו־נֵֽד)" (Ps 78:13 ESV).
  + [Josh 3]: "the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap (נֵ֥ד)," (Josh 3:13 ESV); "the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap (נֵד) very far away" (Josh 3:16 ESV).

Wineskin

This argument map shows the various reasons for and against following the LXX reading, "like a wineskin," which understands the pointing to be כְּנֹ(א)ד. This option is found in NETS: "as he gathers the waters of the sea like a wineskin, as he puts the deeps into storehouses."

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[Wineskin]: The reading כְּנֹד ("wineskin") in Ps 33:7 is the best reading.#dispreferred
 + <Ancient translations>: LXX, Peshitta, Targum, and iuxta Hebraeos (Jerome) read כְּנֹד ("like a wineskin"), apparently understanding כְּנֹד as an abbreviated form of כְּנֹאד. #dispreferred
  +[Ancient translations]: LXX: ὡς ἀσκὸν; Peshitta: ܕܒܙܩ̈ܐ; Targum: זיקא;: iuxta Hebraeos: quasi in utre.#dispreferred
  <_ <Exod 15:8>: The LXX and subsequent readings of "wineskin" (כְּנֹד) in Ps 33:7 likely come from an ancient tradition which incorrectly read Exod 15:8 as referring to a "wineskin."
   + <Hebrew Form and spacing>: The form of the Hebrew preposition and the spacing means that the word must mean "heap" and not "wineskin" in Exod 15:8.
    + [Exodus 15:8]: נצבו כמו נד
   + <Song of the Sea LXX>: The earliest translation of Exod 15:8, the LXX, is closer to "heap" and cannot mean "wineskin."
    +[Exod 15:8 LXX]: "the waters were congealed like a wall (ὡσεὶ τεῖχος)" (NETS)
   + <Wineskin in later tradition>: The ancient manuscripts that have "wineskin" are later than the LXX and sometimes contain both "heap" and "wineskin." 
    + [Exod 15:8 Targum]: Targums Pseudo-Jonathan and Neofti on Exod 15:8 both say that the waters stood "like heaps of heaps" (עורמן עורמן and ערמן ערמן, respectively) but also that the waters "congealed like a skin-bottle" (PsJ: צרירין הי כזיקין; N: צרירין היך זיקיא). 
    + [Exod 15:8 Peshitta]: The Peshitta of Exod 15:8 says that the waters stood "like a skin-bottle" (ܕܒܙܩ̈ܐ), not a "heap."
 + <"Better suited" to treasuries>: Reading "wineskin" in v. 7a creates a parallel with "storehouses" in v. 7b: both are enclosures within which the waters are placed by YHWH (Briggs 1906, 287 :C:; Dahood 1966, 201 :C:).#dispreferred
 + <Ps 78:13>: Ps 78:13 has a similar Hebrew expression (כמו נד) which the LXX renders as ‘he made waters stand like a wineskin’ (ἔστησεν ὕδατα ὡσεὶ ἀσκὸν; Ps 77:13 LXX, trans. NETS).#dispreferred
  + [Ps 78:13]: He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap (כְּמֹו־נֵד) (Ps 78:13 ESV).
  <_ <A nonsense rendering>: The LXX rendering of Ps 78:13 makes little sense in the context of Ps 78 (77 LXX). 
   + <An Exodus reference>: Ps 78:13 (77:13 LXX) is a clear reference to the crossing of the Red Sea. The word in question should therefore be translated similarly to the similar wording in Exod 15:8 LXX.
    + [The immediate context]: Ps 78:13 (77:13 LXX) immediately follows references to the miracles God did in Egypt in v. 12 (cf. v. 43-55) and how "he broke asunder a sea and brought them through" (NETS) in v. 13a. It immediately precedes references to the wilderness wanderings and related events in vv. 14-34. 
    + <Song of the Sea LXX>: The earliest translation of Exod 15:8, the LXX, is closer to "heap" and cannot mean "wineskin."
     +[Exod 15:8 LXX]: "the waters were congealed like a wall (ὡσεὶ τεῖχος)" (NETS)
 + <Job 38>: "Treasuries" (Ps 33:7b) are also in Job 38:22, and "wineskins" are in Job 38:37, "where God stores up the waters of heaven," and so "it is most probable that all these terms of Job are at the basis of" Ps 33:7 (Briggs 1906, 288 :C:; cf. Job 38:8-10, where YHWH shuts the waters up).#dispreferred
  + [Job 38:22]: "Have you entered the storehouses (אֹצְרוֹת) of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses (וְאֹצְרוֹת) of the hail," (Job 38:22 ESV).#dispreferred
  + [Job 38:37]: "Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens (וְנִבְלֵי שָׁמַיִם)" (Job 38:37 ESV). #dispreferred
  <_ [No נֹ(א)ד in Job]: The word used in Job 38:37 is not נֹ(א)ד ("wineskin") but נֵ֫בֶל "jar." 
  + <Verbal and thematic parallels>: There are thematic and verbal parallels between Ps 33 and Job 38.#dispreferred
   + [Creation]: YHWH "laid the foundations of the earth" in Job 38:4, "made the heavens and all their host" in Ps 33:6.#dispreferred
    <_ <Different emphases>: Job 38 repeatedly stresses God's ongoing power over creation, while the non-"heap" reading of Ps 33:7 is the only possible place in that psalm that speaks of God's ongoing power over creation. In Ps 33, God's ongoing power is over the peoples and the nations, which is not a theme of Job 38.
   + [Understanding]: Job 38:4 stresses Job's lack of understanding, while Ps 33:15 says that God understands all the deeds of people.#dispreferred
   <_ <Fewer parallels>: The thematic and verbal parallels with Job 38 are much fewer than those with Exod 15 (see the first Argument Map above). 
 + <The taming of the sea>: Ps 33:7 describes the taming of the primordial seas of chaos, not the Exodus, and the wineskin reading makes that connection more clear (Dahood 1966, 202 :C:).#dispreferred
  + <Multiple HB texts>: Many HB texts describe the taming of the seas at creation as shutting them up into an enclosed space. This is more similar to putting the waters into a wineskin than forming them into a heap.#dispreferred
   + [Taming of the sea texts]: Ps 104:5-9; Job 38:8-11; Prov 8:23-31; Jer 5:22; Jer 31:35; Ps 65:7-8; Sir 43:25.#dispreferred
  - <A specialized taming of the seas>: The Exod 15 account describes a "taming of the sea" event that built upon the ANE concept of the deity taming the waters of chaos at creation (Craigie 2004, 273 :C:). So, the Exodus account and the Biblical texts describing YHWH's taming of the sea are not mutually exclusive.
 + <Ancient support>: The Qumran manuscript 4QPs-q supports the reading כְּנֹד.#dispreferred
  + [4QPs-q]: כונס כנד מי#dispreferred
  <_ <Ambiguous>: The reading כנד in 4QPs-q could also support the "jar" interpretation (כֶּנֶד) and the "heap" interpretation (כַּנֵּד).
   - <Qumran spelling>: The spelling in 4QPs-q consistently requires a ''waw'' to represent an o-vowel. There is no ''waw'' in the word כנד, meaning that the "heap" (כַּנֵּד) and "jar" (כֶּנֶד) interpretations are possible, but the "wineskin" (כְּנֹד) interpretation is not. #dispreferred

Jar

This argument map shows the recent suggestion to revocalize the Hebrew word as כֶּנֶד based on ANE discoveries in Akkadian and Ugaritic, resulting in the translation "(in) a jar." This option is found in the NIV: "He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses."

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[Jar]: The reading כֶּנֶד ("jar") in Ps 33:7 is the best reading.#dispreferred
 + <A similar word>: The similar Ugaritic words 'knd' and Akkadian 'kandu' mean “jar, pitcher" (Dahood 1966, 201 :C:; Anderson 1972, 264 :C:) (cf. Hebrew כַּד).#dispreferred
  - <Unlikely Ugaritic meaning>: The meaning of the Ugaritic word ''knd'' is almost certainly a garment of some type (see Olmo Lete 2004, 449 :L:), since it is only found twice, and those two occurrences are in a single tablet that is an inventory of clothes (cf. Craigie 2004, 270 :C:). 
   + [Ugaritic text]: CTA 140:2–3 = KTU 4.4. 2–3 is an inventory of clothes containing the word ''knd''
  + <Akkadian meaning>: ''kaned'' means "a container of earthenware or silver, mainly for wine" in Akkadian (Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago) and may be related to the Aramaic word ''kaddā, kaddānā'' which means "jug" (Zimmern 1915, 33 :M:).#dispreferred
 + <Mythical creation text>: The imagery is drawn from the same sphere as Job 38:8–10, 22, 37; Ps 135:7; Isa 45:3; Jer 10:13, which are mythical creation texts about YHWH shutting the waters into an enclosed space. Therefore, Ps 33:7 is about putting waters of the seas into something like a jar, rather than putting them into a heap.#dispreferred
  + [Job 38:8-10, 22, 37]: "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors" (Job 38:8–10 ESV); "Have you entered the storehouses (אֹצְרוֹת) of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses (וְאֹצְרוֹת) of the hail," (Job 38:22 ESV); Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens" (Job 38:27 ESV).#dispreferred
  + [Ps 135:7]: "He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses (מֵאֹֽוצְרֹותָֽיו)" (Ps 135:7 ESV).#dispreferred
  + [Isa 45:3]: "I will give you the treasures (אֹוצְרֹ֣ות) of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name" (Isa 45:3 ESV).#dispreferred
  + [Jer 10:13]: When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters (מַיִם) in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses (מֵאֹצְרֹתָיו)" (Jer 10:13 ESV).#dispreferred
  - <Lack of verbal and thematic parallels>: Compared with Exod 15, these texts have few other verbal and thematic parallels with Ps 33:7 (cf. argument maps 1 and 2 for specific examples).
 + <A better preposition>: The reading כֶּנֶד, which interprets the kaf as part of the noun instead of a preposition, makes for a better semantic fit, since it allows for the bet preposition from the b-line to be elided: בְּ]\כֶנֶד\] ("in a jar").#dispreferred
  + <Double-duty preposition>: In poetic parallelism the governing power of a preposition is sometimes extended to the corresponding substantive of the second member (GKC §119hh :G:). In this case, the bet on "storehouses" in v. 7b would apply to "jar" in v. 7a as well (Dahood 1966, 202 :C:). The resultant reading is "in a jar."#dispreferred
   + [Similar examples]: Pss 12:3, 38:23, 40:5, 42:5, 50:8, 57:4, 65:5, 67:5, 135:6; cf. Isa 48:14; Jon 2:4; Hab 3:8b (Dahood 1966, 202 :C:).#dispreferred

Conclusion

In conclusion, the best choice is to follow the reading of the MT, "like a heap," in Ps 33:7. It is a plausible interpretation of the earliest extant Hebrew text at Qumran and is corroborated by the Quinta. Additionally, the reading "like a heap" is the preferred reading of Exodus 15:8 based upon the form and spacing of the Hebrew manuscripts and the rendering of the earliest translation, the LXX. Reading Ps 33:7 with the MT tightens the numerous verbal and thematic parallels between Ps 33 and the Song of the Sea in Exod 15. Therefore, the translations that elide the term deny readers a significant intertextual echo.

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: συνάγων ὡς ἀσκὸν ὕδατα θαλάσσης, τιθεὶς ἐν θησαυροῖς ἀβύσσους.
  • as he gathers the waters of the sea like a wineskin, as he puts the deeps into storehouses.
• Peshitta: ܟܢܫ ܐܝܟ ܕܒܙܩ̈ܐ ܡ̈ܝܐ ܕܝܡܐ/ܕܝܡ̈ܡܐ/ ܘܣܡ ܒܐܘܨܪ̈ܐ ܬܗܘܡܐ
  • They gathered the waters of the seas as in wineskins; he placed the deeps in a storehouse.
• Jerome: congregans quasi in utre aquas maris, ponens in thesauris abyssos.
• Targum: דמכניס היך זיקא מוי דימא יהבינון באפותיקי תהומיא׃
  • He who gathers the waters of the sea as (in) a bottle places the deeps in a storehouse.

Modern

Option 1 - "Heap/Dam/Mound"

• He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. (ESV)
• He gathered into a heap the waters of the sea, he laid up the deeps in his store-chambers. (NEB/REB)
• He collects the waters of the sea like a dam, he stores away the abyss in his treasure-house. (NJB)
• He heaps up the ocean waters like a mound, stores the deep in vaults. (JPS85)
• He gathers the water of the sea into a heap; he puts the depths into storehouses. (CSB)
• Er sammelt das Wasser des Meeres wie der Damm, legt in Behälter die Fluten. (ELB)
• Er sammelt das Wasser des Meeres und dämmt es ein, legt die Fluten in Kammern. (EÜ)
• Er fasst das Wasser des Meeres wie mit einem Damm, in Kammern legt er die Fluten. (ZÜR)
• Il amasse et endigue les eaux de la mer ;dans des réservoirs, il met les océans. (TOB)
• Il amoncelle en une masse les eaux de la mer, il met les abîmes dans des réserves. (NBS)
• Il amoncelle en une masse les eaux de la mer, Il met les abîmes dans des réservoirs. (NVSR)
• Les eaux des mers, il les amasse et les endigue, il tient les eaux profondes comme en un réservoir. (BDS)
• Derrière un grand mur, il rassemble l’eau des mers, les océans, il les garde en réserve. (PDV)
• Il rassemble l'eau des mers derrière une digue, il retient prisonnier le grand océan. (NFC)
• Él junta como montón las aguas del mar, Él pone en depósitos los abismos. (BTX4)

Option 2 - "Wineskin"

• Er hält die Wasser des Meeres zusammen wie in einem Schlauch und sammelt in Kammern die Fluten. (LUT)

Option 3 - "Jars"

• He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. (NIV)
• He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses. (NRSV)
• Él recoge en cántaros las aguas del mar y junta en depósitos las profundidades del océano. (NVI)

Option 4 - Elided

• He piles up the water of the sea; he puts the oceans in storehouses. (NET)
• He scooped up the ocean and stored the water. (CEV)
• He gathered all the seas into one place; he shut up the ocean depths in storerooms. (GNT)
• He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. (NLT)
• Er sammelte das Wasser des Meeres an einem Ort und speicherte die Ozeane in riesigen Becken. (HFA)
• Er sammelte das Wasser des Meeres und setzte ihm eine Grenze. In die riesigen Meeresbecken füllte er die Fluten. (NGÜ)
• Das Wasser am Himmel hat er in Wolken gefasst, die Fluten in Kammern eingesperrt. (GNB)
• Il amoncelle les eaux de la mer, il garde les océans dans des réservoirs. (S21)
• Él junta como montón las aguas del mar; él pone en depósitos los abismos. (RVR95)
• Él junta y almacena las aguas del mar profundo. (DDH)

Secondary Literature

Anderson, A.A. 1972. The Book of Psalms Volume 1: Psalms 1-72. The New Century Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Baethgen, Friedrich. 1904. Die Psalmen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.

Briggs, Charles A., and Emilie Briggs. 1906. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Vol. 1 of ICC. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.

Craigie, Peter C. 2004. Psalms 1–50, rev. ed. WBC 19. Waco, TX: Word.

Dahood, Mitchell. 1966. Psalms 1-50. ABC. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday.

DeClaissé-Walford, Nancy L., Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner. 2014. The Book of Psalms. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Deissler, Alfons. 1956. “Der Anthologische Charakter des Psalmes 33 (32).” Pages 225–33 in Mélanges Bibliques: Rédigés en L’Honneur de Andre Robert. Edited by Pierre Casetti et al. Travaux de l’Institut Catholique de Paris: 4. Paris: Bloud & Gay.

Gunkel, Hermann. 1894. Schöpfung und Chaos in Urzeit und Endzeit. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.

Kirkpatrick, Alexander Francis. 1897. The Book of Psalms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Olmo Lete, Gregorio del, and Joaquín Sanmartín. 2004. A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition. 2nd rev. ed. Vol. One. Leiden; Boston: Brill.

Ross, Allen P. 2011. A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1 (1-41). Kregel Exegetical Library. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.

Stec, David M., ed. 2004. The Targum of Psalms. The Aramaic Bible v. 16. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press.

Zimmern, Heinrich. 1915. Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss. Leipzig: JC Hinrichs’schen Buchhandlung.

References

33:7