The statement 'You set a boundary that the waters cannot pass, so that they might not again cover the earth' establishes the permanence of the distinction between sea and land, between chaos and order. The verb 'set' (sam) echoes verse 5, where God 'sets' the earth on foundations; the same divine action that grounds the earth also bounds the waters. The phrase 'that the waters cannot pass' (bal ye'ebrun) affirms that the boundary is not mere suggestion but absolute limit; the chaotic waters are permanently restrained. The reminder 'so that they might not again cover the earth' alludes to the memory of initial chaos and raises the specter of return to that chaos. The force of the verse is to affirm that the distinction between order and chaos, between habitable land and boundless ocean, is divine work, not accident. For the ancient observer, the constancy of this boundary—that the sea does not encroach and submerge the land—is evidence that God maintains creation in stable order.

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