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Psalm 68:15

The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains. The mountains of Bashan are rugged.

13while you sleep among the camp fires, the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold.
14When the Almighty scattered kings in her, it snowed on Zalmon.
15The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains. The mountains of Bashan are rugged.
16Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, the LORD will dwell there forever.
17The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.
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← Psalm 68:14Psalm 68:16 →
Notice

Bashan’s majestic, rugged mountains command attention, while the next line turns from their grandeur to the mountain God chooses as his dwelling.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do the words “majestic” and “rugged” each add to your picture of Bashan?

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How does the next verse’s mention of God’s choice change your reading of these impressive mountains?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

8 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 87:1–2A Psalm by the sons of Korah; a Song. His foundation is in the holy mountains.Both passages speak of mountains, though Psalm 87 names holiness and Psalm 68:15 names majesty and ruggedness.
Psalm 78:68–69But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.Both passages name mountains: Bashan’s rugged mountains here, and Mount Zion, loved and chosen by God, in Psalm 78.
Psalm 2:6“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”The shared thread is mountain imagery: Bashan’s majestic mountains here, and God’s holy hill of Zion where he sets his King.
Deuteronomy 3:10We took all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.Bashan is the shared place, described through its mountains in the psalm and its conquered cities in Deuteronomy.
Micah 7:14Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell by themselves in a forest. Let them feed in the middle of fertile pasture land, in …Both name Bashan’s landscape: the psalm describes rugged mountains, while Micah asks for the flock to feed in its pasture land.
Isaiah 2:2–3It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the …Both describe impressive mountains; Isaiah speaks of the mountain of the LORD’s house raised above the hills.
Numbers 21:33They turned and went up by the way of Bashan. Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.Bashan links these passages geographically: the psalm describes its mountains, while Numbers recounts Og coming out to battle at Edrei.
1 Kings 4:13Ben Geber, in Ramoth Gilead (the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, belonged to him; and the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty …Both name Bashan, with the psalm describing its rugged mountains and Kings listing fortified cities in its region of Argob.
Where this verse fits

Sermon or Bible study notes. praise and worship.

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One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 68:15–16 and note how the mountains differ

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Encouragement

Bashan’s rugged grandeur has its place in the poem. The next verse directs attention to God’s choice: YHWH will dwell on the mountain he chooses.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 68:15. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 68 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).