14 The has “and he shut up.” The has “Who?” and so many commentaries and editions adopt this reading, if not from the , then from the sense of the sequence in the text itself.
15 The line uses two expressions, first the temporal clause with גִּיחַ (giakh, “when it burst forth”) and then the finite verb יֵצֵא (yetse’, “go out”) to mark the concomitance of the two actions.
16 The temporal clause here uses the infinitive from שִׂים (sim, “to place; to put; to make”). It underscores the sovereign placing of things.
17 This noun is found only here. The verb is in Ezek 16:4, and a related noun is in Ezek 30:21.
18 The has “and I broke,” which cannot mean “set, prescribed” or the like. The and the have such a meaning, suggesting a verb עֲשִׁית (’ashiyt, “plan, prescribe”). A. Guillaume finds an Arabic word with a meaning “measured it by span by my decree.” Would God give himself a decree? R. Gordis simply argues that the basic meaning “break” develops the connotation of “decide, determine” (2 Sam 5:24; Job 14:3; Dan 11:36).
19 Dhorme suggested reversing the two verbs, making this the first, and then “shatter” for the second colon.
20 The imperfect verb receives the permission nuance here.
21 The text has תֹסִיף (tosif, “and you may not add”), which is often used idiomatically (as in verbal hendiadys constructions).
22 The literally says, “here he will put on the pride of your waves.” The verb has no expressed subject and so is made a passive voice. But there has to be some object for the verb “put,” such as “limit” or “boundary”; the translations “confined; halted; stopped” all serve to paraphrase such an idea. The has “broken” at this point, suggesting the verse might have been confused—but “breaking the pride” of the waves would mean controlling them. Some commentators have followed this, exchanging the verb in v. 11 with this one.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“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,

and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Who shut up the sea behind doors

when it burst forth from the womb,

when I made the clouds its garment

and wrapped it in thick darkness,

when I fixed limits for it

and set its doors and bars in place,

when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;

here is where your proud waves halt’?

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Who enclosed the sea behind doors

when it burst from the womb,

when I made the clouds its garment

and total darkness its blanket,

when I determined its boundaries

and put its bars and doors in place,

when I declared, “You may come this far, but no farther;

your proud waves stop here”?

NLTNew Living Translation

“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries

as it burst from the womb,

and as I clothed it with clouds

and wrapped it in thick darkness?

For I locked it behind barred gates,

limiting its shores.

I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.

Here your proud waves must stop!’

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“Or who shut the sea in with doors

at its bursting, when it went out of the womb,

at my making the clouds its garment

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

and I prescribed my rule for it,

and I set bars and doors,

and I said, ‘You shall come up to here, but you shall not go further,

and here it will set a boundary for your proud surging waves’?

KJV 1900King James Version

Or who shut up the sea with doors,

When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

When I made the cloud the garment thereof,

And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

And brake up for it my decreed place,

And set bars and doors,

And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further:

And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

Public Domain