Bible Dictionaries
Depths

Holman Bible Dictionary

The deep places of the sea (Exodus 15:5 ,Exodus 15:5,15:8; Psalm 68:22; Psalm 77:16; Psalm 78:15 ), an underground spring (Deuteronomy 8:7; Proverbs 8:24 ), the earth's interior (Psalm 95:4; Isaiah 44:23 ), and by extension Sheol, the subterranean abode of the dead (Psalm 63:9; Psalm 71:20 ). “The depths” is used figuratively for the unsearchable (Proverbs 25:3 ), for the womb (Psalm 139:15 ), and perhaps for tragedy (Psalm 130:1 ). In creation water covered the chaotic depths of the earth (Genesis 1:2 , where “deep” combines the physical meaning of lowest places on earth and earth's interior with the emotional meanings of the dark abode of the dead and the uncharted, feared depths of the oceans. The biblical message is that the sovereign God controls the fearsome, mysterious, tragic, and unknown elements of human existence and that even these inanimate aspects of existence can be called on to praise Him.