Before the mountains were settled,.... "Plunged" (l), or fixed in the earth; and which was done by the great strength of the Lord, upon their proper bases, Psa 65:6; and which were "aborigine", or from the beginning of the world, and therefore called the ancient mountains, Deu 33:15; to be before the mountains is a periphrasis of eternity, and is a phrase expressive of God's eternity; and being here used of the Son's, shows his eternity is the same with his Father's, Psa 90:2; before the hills was I brought forth; which is repeated partly to show the importance of it; this being a matter of infinite moment and concern, and deserving of the strictest attention and observation; and partly to show the certainty of it; the eternal generation of Christ being an article of faith most surely to be believed. (l) "defixi", Montanus; "mergerentur", Tigurine version; "immersi", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius.