TEHILLIM LIGHT

Commentaries

Mizmor 024, Verse 002

כִּי־ה֭וּא עַל־יַמִּ֣ים יְסָדָ֑הּ וְעַל־נְ֝הָר֗וֹת יְכוֹנְנֶֽהָ

Ki-hu al-yammim yesodoh ve'al-nehoros yechoneneho

For He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

RADAK

1.
For He has founded it upon (the) seas, And established it upon (the) floods:
The earth He has established upon seas and floods for the sake of the creatures upon it; but this mountain He has not founded for all creatures, not even for all the sons of men, but for the clean of hand and pure of heart; and it is the seed of Jacob who seek the Lord, and were bidden to be clean of hand and pure of heart.
2.
And the interpretation of upon (the) seas and upon (the) floods is "next to" seas and rivers. 3.
And (it is said) that there is no habitable spot in the world (more than) eighteen days' (journey) distant from the sea, and this is for the provision of moisture for the creatures;
and likewise the rivers are for the use (provision) of the creatures; and this is according to what is said (Yeshayahu - Isaiah 45:18), "He formed it to be inhabited" because He established it so that created beings might live in it.
And the reason (for so doing) was because it had not been created so from the beginning, but rather (at first) to be entirely under water; for the waters encompassed it on every side as the air encompassed the waters on every side, and the fire encompasses the air on every side. And behold the earth was under the waters, in accordance with the nature He imposes on them; and He did not make it so at first, in order to demonstrate that all is in His hand and that He varies (their) natures at His pleasure. And God commanded that its first division should be uncovered, so that the creatures might live in it; and (so) He says (Bereshit - Genesis 1:9) "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered unto one place and let the dry land appear."

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
[יְכוֹנְנֶֽהָ] (yechoneneho) - ESTABLISHED
Derived from - [כּוּן] (kun)
indicates two concepts:
A. - "to establish an object upon a foundation” and
B. - “to guide an object in the course intended for it”
This is one aspect of the dependency of all human development upon the physical conditions which are in turn controlled by God Himself. The development of all nations is influenced by geographical location. God formed the earth with a variety of physical features. He linked and divided continents by means of seas, and countries by rivers. He created various climatic zones by raising and lowering the altitudes of land and thus increasing or diminishing its distance from the sun. By so regulating earth's geographical and climatic features the Lord set the course of history and that of the development of man in all the multiplicity of national characteristics and peculiarities, and He still guides all this evolution in the paths best suited for His purposes. All the earth is a "training ground” for God, on which men are to attain the peak of their moral destiny and God's nearness here below.

WORDS