put on strength Lit. "clothe thyself with strength," as Psalms 93:1.

The arm of the Lordis apostrophised, as the symbol of His might, possibly with a reference back to Isaiah 51:5.

that hath cut Rahab &c. R.V. that cut Rahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon. The verb "cut" is strictly "hewed" or "split." Rahabis the sea-monster (ch. Isaiah 30:7); and the "dragon" (tannín) probably one of the "helpers of Rahab" (Job 9:13); both together represent the chaotic elements from whose dominion the habitable world had to be recovered; hence the line expresses poetically the same thought as the following "Art thou not it which dried up the sea" &c.? The original mythical emblem survives in one of the most beautiful personifications of O.T. poetry, the comparison of the sea to a restless, unruly creature, waging impotent war with heaven, and seeking to devour the land, but a creature whom Jehovah holds completely in His power, now stirring it to fury (see Isaiah 51:15) by His rebuke, and again stilling its commotions.

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