In this verse there is a reference to the gathering of the waters of the primeval chaos into a storeroom, reflecting the thought of the time, that above the dome of the sky the upper waters were stored (Gen 1.7) as the source of rain (see Gen 7.11); see also Psalm 148.4b-5.

Good News Translation “into one place” translates the Masoretic text “as a heap.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “He heaps up the ocean waters like a mound.” Bible en français courant translates it “behind a dam,” and New Jerusalem Bible “like a dam.” Revised Standard Version and others use different vowels with the Hebrew consonants to get as in a bottle (that is, a leather wineskin), which has support from the Septuagint; and see Job 38.37b. New English Bible translates “in a goatskin.”7 Hebrew Old Testament Text Project follows the Masoretic text, “like a heap” (“B” decision). It seems better to follow the Masoretic text.

In line b the thought is again expressed, he put the deeps in storehouses. (Good News Translation would have done better by saying “reservoirs” instead of “storerooms.”) All of this demonstrates Yahweh’s mighty power; he gathers all the waters of the universe and stores them as easily as a man might store full wineskins in his cellar. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has combined the two parallel lines into one complete statement: “He gathers and stores the waters of the deep ocean.” This avoids having to find an equivalent for “heap” and “storehouses.”

A special effort will be required to make the concepts in this verse clear in many languages. One may say in line a “He dips up the waters of the oceans and pours them into one place” or, following the other interpretation of the Hebrew, “He scoops up the water of the seas and pours them into a container.” Line b may be translated using a simile based on the verb phrase “putting in storehouses”; for example, “he stores up the waters of the sea like a merchant stores his goods” or “he stores the waters of the sea like a man stores grain in a barn.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .