Fear you not me?
says the LORD:
will you not tremble at my presence, who has placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though its waves toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
All Commentaries on Jeremiah 5:22 Go To Jeremiah 5
Basil the Great
AD 379
Through all the story of waters be mindful of that first word, “Let the waters be gathered.” It was necessary for them to flow that they might reach their own place. Then, being in the places appointed, they were to remain by themselves and not to advance further. For this reason, according to the saying of Ecclesiastes, “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea does not overflow.” It is through the divine command that waters flow, and it is due to that first legislation, “Let the waters be gathered into one place,” that the sea is enclosed within boundaries. For fear that the flowing water, spreading beyond the beds that hold it, always passing on and filling up one place after another, should continuously flood all the lands, it was ordered to be gathered into one place. Therefore, the sea, frequently raging with the winds and rising up in waves to towering heights, whenever it merely touches the shores breaks its onrush into foam and retires. “Will you not then fear me, says the Lord? I have set the sand as a bound for the sea.” With the weakest of all things, sand, the sea, irresistible in its violence, is bridled.
