The Meaning of Psalms 78:15 Explained

Psalms 78:15

KJV: He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

YLT: He cleaveth rocks in a wilderness, And giveth drink -- as the great deep.

Darby: He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the depths, abundantly;

ASV: He clave rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He clave  the rocks  in the wilderness,  and gave [them] drink  as [out of] the great  depths. 

What does Psalms 78:15 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 78:13-24 - "a Table In The Wilderness"
Throughout this wonderful recital there is a perpetual contrast between God's unswerving goodness and the incessant backsliding of His people; and as we read it, we learn that sin is not simply the violation of the divine law, but a source of pain and trouble to our Heavenly Father's heart. For us He cleaves the seas, leads us in the daytime, builds His watch-fires around us at night, and brings streams of blessing from the rocks. But we tempt Him by our incessant unbelief. We say, He certainly did thus and thus, but can He, will He, do this or that? "Can God furnish?" "Can God give bread?"
When shall we dare to believe in our Lord's assurances; first, that "with God all things are possible;" and second, that "all things are possible to him that believeth"? But we must live habitually in fellowship with God before we are able to exercise this faith. As we nourish our souls by feeding on the promises, and studying what He has done in the lives of others, out faith removes all the boundaries with which it had limited the Holy One, and cries, "Thou canst and thou wilt!" [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 78

1  An exhortation both to learn and to preach, the law of God
9  The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient
67  The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David

What do the individual words in Psalms 78:15 mean?

He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave [them] drink like the depths in abundance
יְבַקַּ֣ע צֻ֭רִים בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר וַ֝יַּ֗שְׁקְ כִּתְהֹמ֥וֹת רַבָּֽה

יְבַקַּ֣ע  He  split 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בָּקַע  
Sense: to split, cleave, break open, divide, break through, rip up, break up, tear.
צֻ֭רִים  the  rocks 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: צוּר 
Sense: rock, cliff.
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר  in  the  wilderness 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִדְבָּר 
Sense: wilderness.
וַ֝יַּ֗שְׁקְ  and  gave  [them]  drink 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁקָה  
Sense: to give to drink, irrigate, drink, water, cause to drink water.
כִּתְהֹמ֥וֹת  like  the  depths 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, common plural construct
Root: תְּהֹום  
Sense: deep, depths, deep places, abyss, the deep, sea.
רַבָּֽה  in  abundance 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.