A very powerful wind went before the Lord, digging into the mountain and causing landslides, 2 but the Lord was not in the wind. After the windstorm there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
148:8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds, 3
O stormy wind that carries out his orders, 4
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
2 tn Heb “tearing away the mountains and breaking the cliffs” (or perhaps, “breaking the stones”).
3 tn In Ps 119:83 the noun refers to “smoke,” but here, where the elements of nature are addressed, the clouds, which resemble smoke, are probably in view.
4 tn Heb “[that] does his word.”
5 tn Aram “answered and said.”
6 tn Aram “and behold.”
7 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
8 sn The referent of the great sea is unclear. The common view that the expression refers to the Mediterranean Sea is conjectural.