Chapter 148
1st, Praise the Lord, angels in heaven.
2nd, Praise the Lord, sun, moon, heavens.
3rd, Praise because He created you, created all things.
4th, Praise Him all the earth, sea creatures, and natures extremes - mist, snow, wind. All work to fulfill His word.
2021 - Here is vs. 7, in both ESV and KJV for comparison:
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps: [Psa 148:7 KJV]
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, [Psa 148:7 ESV]
Looks like ESV did not want to "go there" when it came to dragons. Looked up the Hebrew word in the interlinear. The transliterated word is "tan neen' ", accent on the second syllable. Strong's 8577. Here is what the word means:
dragon, serpent, sea monster
dragon or dinosaur
sea or river monster
serpent, venomous snake
So it would certainly seem that the phrase "great sea creatures" is used to intentionally tone down the possibility that there are dragons, are sea monsters, etc. In that day, when this Psalm was written, they very likely believed, and there very possibly were, sea monsters. The psalmist meant this to be understood that way, to show that even these rarely seen, barely understood, barely credible creatures - if they existed - were also God's creation. I believe ESV has done us a disservice here by reducing the scope of this phrase. I don't see ESV do this very much, so it is an interesting thing to me, and prompted me to look a little more at the Hebrew words of this Psalm. Both KJV and ESV translate the last phrase as "and all deeps". It is two Hebrew words, "kol", rhymes with coal, and "teh home". "kol" is "and all", and here is what "teh home" means:
deep, depths, deep places, abyss, the deep, sea
deep (of subterranean waters)
deep, sea, abysses (of sea)
primeval ocean, deep
deep, depth (of river)
abyss, the grave
What about "Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and ocean depths". And even that does not convey how encompassing this is, but it seems better than ESV.
5th, Mountains - physical things of the earth - geography itself should praise him, along with growing plants.
6th, People of the earth, all ages, all ranks, all sexes. Praise Him.
7th, Praise Him, and only Him, people of the earth.
2021 - This is such an amazing Psalm. Makes me think of the phrase "all creatures great and small". The phrase, not the book because I haven't read the book. This Psalm attempts to solicit praise from all creation. Animals, mists, monsters, and man. It is almost an all-inclusive taxonomic classification of all that is. It starts with the heavens, then moves to those that inhabit the heavens, then the objects in the heavens. Then the earth, the creatures in the waters, the water itself, and manifestations of nature. The land - mountains, hills and trees, land creatures - wild and domesticated, and all that flies. Rulers of all levels, young men and women, little children and old men. What is left out? What isn't covered? All creation is here in these first 12 verses.