The channels. — The description of the storm ends with the fury of the wind and the effects of the tempest on the earth’s surface. Comp. Psalms 29, and Milton: —
“Either tropic now
‘Gan thunder and both ends of heaven the clouds,
From many a horrid rift abortive pour’d
Fierce rain with lightning mix’d, water with fire,
In ruin reconciled; nor slept the winds
Within their stony caves, but rush’d abroad
From the four hinges of the world and fell
On the vex’d wilderness.”
— Par. Reg. iv. 409416.
Here, to suit the poet’s purpose (see next verse), the rage of the tempest is made to spend itself on the water-floods. The “channels” are either torrent beds (Isaiah 8:7; Psalms 42:1; Job 6:15), or as in Samuel (where for “waters” the text has “sea”) the depths of ocean. (Comp. Jonah 2:5.)