The Hebrew noun shaon refers to a loud tumult, uproar, crash, or overwhelming noise — often the sound of battle, surging waters, or raging nations. It appears in Psalm 40 as the 'desolate pit' and 'miry bog' from which God lifts the psalmist, delivering him from the shaon — the chaos and overwhelm of trouble.
The shaon represents the chaos that threatens to overwhelm — raging enemies (Psalm 83:2), the crash of battle (Isaiah 13:4), the tumult of the sea (Psalm 65:7). In Hebrew theology, chaos is not an independent power but is under God's sovereign control. God silences the shaon of the seas and the tumult of the peoples (Psalm 65:7). When Jesus stilled the storm, He exercised the divine authority to quiet shaon. The believer's hope is that the God who brings order out of chaos (Genesis 1) can bring peace into any tumult — personal, national, or cosmic.