English Standard Version
Psalms 104:20
20You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
Psalms 104:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
- New International Version (NIV)You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
- New King James Version (NKJV)You make darkness, and it is night, In which all the beasts of the forest creep about.
- New Living Translation (NLT)You send the darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals prowl about.
Context of Psalms 104:20
18The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. 19He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about. 21The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. 22When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens.
Read all of Psalms 104Psalms 104:20 word by word
תָּֽשֶׁת־חֹ֭שֶׁךְ וִ֣יהִי לָ֑יְלָה בּֽוֹ־תִ֝רְמֹ֗שׂ כָּל־חַיְתוֹ־יָֽעַר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 104:20
- Psalms 74:16Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
- Psalms 139:10even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
- Genesis 1:4And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
- Genesis 8:22While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
- Isaiah 45:7I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.
- Amos 1:13Thus says the Lord: "For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.
Commentaries on Psalms 104:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Thou makest darkness - It is not the design of God that there should be either constant darkness or constant light. That man may labor, he gives him, by means of the sun, the light of the day; and that he may rest from his labor, and get his strength recruited, he gives him night, and comparative darkness. And as it would not be convenient for man and the wild beasts of the forest to collect their food at the same time, he has given the night to them as…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Thou makest darkness, and it is night - Thou hast made arrangements for the return of night - for the alternations of day and night. The Hebrew word rendered “makest,” means “to place;” and the idea is, that God constitutes the darkness, or so disposes things that it occurs. Wherein all the beasts of the forest - The margin is, “the beasts thereof do trample on the forest.” The reference is to the beasts which seek their prey at night. Do creep forth…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-30Verses 19-30 We are to praise and magnify God for the constant succession of day and night. And see how those are like to the wild beasts, who wait for the twilight, and have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Does God listen to the language of mere nature, even in ravenous creatures, and shall he not much more interpret favourably the language of grace in his own people, though weak and broken groanings which cannot be uttered? There is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-23Cycles of darkness and dawn mark the days on earth.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2320-23. He provides and adapts to man's wants the appointed times and seasons.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 104:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 104
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries