Jeremiah 8:16

8:16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses

is already being heard in the city of Dan.

The sound of the neighing of their stallions ¹ 

causes the whole land to tremble with fear.

They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it!

They are coming to destroy ²  the cities and everyone who lives in them!”

Jeremiah 10:10

10:10 The Lord is the only true God.

He is the living God and the everlasting King.

When he shows his anger the earth shakes.

None of the nations can stand up to his fury.

Jeremiah 50:36

50:36 Destructive forces will come against her false prophets; ³ 

they will be shown to be fools! ⁴ 

Destructive forces will come against her soldiers;

they will be filled with terror! ⁵ 

Jeremiah 50:43

50:43 The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear ⁶ 

when he hears news of their coming. ⁷ 

Anguish will grip him,

agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. ⁸ 

Isaiah 13:13-14

13:13 So I will shake the heavens, ⁹ 

and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, ¹⁰ 

because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies,

in the day he vents his raging anger. ¹¹ 

13:14 Like a frightened gazelle ¹² 

or a sheep with no shepherd,

each will turn toward home, ¹³ 

each will run to his homeland.

Isaiah 14:16

14:16 Those who see you stare at you,

they look at you carefully, thinking: ¹⁴ 

“Is this the man who shook the earth,

the one who made kingdoms tremble?

Joel 2:10

2:10 The earth quakes ¹⁵  before them; ¹⁶ 

the sky reverberates. ¹⁷ 

The sun and the moon grow dark;

the stars refuse to shine. ¹⁸ 

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ¹⁹  will quake, ²⁰ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ²¹  will rise like the River Nile, ²² 

it will surge upward ²³  and then grow calm, ²⁴  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁵ 

[8:16]  ¹ tn Heb “his stallions.”

[8:16]  ² tn The words “They are coming to destroy” are not in the text. They are inserted to break up a long sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.

[50:36]  ³ tn The meaning and the derivation of the word translated “false prophets” is uncertain. The same word appears in conjunction with the word for “diviners” in Isa 44:25 and probably also in Hos 11:6 in conjunction with the sword consuming them “because of their counsel.” BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד b sees this as a substitution of “empty talk” for “empty talkers” (the figure of metonymy) and refer to them as false prophets. KBL 108 s.v. II בַּד emends the form in both places to read בָּרִים (barim) in place of בַּדִּים (baddim) and defines the word on the basis of Akkadian to mean “soothsayer” (KBL 146 s.v. V בָּר). HALOT 105 s.v. V בַּד retains the pointing, derives it from an Amorite word found in the Mari letters, and defines it as “oracle priest.” However, G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 368) call this identification into question because the word only occurs in one letter from Mari and its meaning is uncertain there. It is hazardous to emend the text in two places, perhaps even three, in light of no textual evidence in any of the passages and to define the word on the basis of an uncertain parallel. Hence the present translation opts here for the derivation and extended definition given in BDB.

[50:36]  ⁴ tn This translation follows the suggestion of BDB 383 s.v. I יָאַל Niph.2. Compare the usage in Isa 19:13 and Jer 5:4.

[50:36]  ⁵ tn The verb here (חָתַת, khatat) could also be rendered “be destroyed” (cf. BDB 369 s.v. חָתַת Qal.1 and compare the usage in Jer 48:20, 39). However, the parallelism with “shown to be fools” argues for the more dominant usage of “be dismayed” or “be filled with terror.” The verb is found in parallelism with both בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “be ashamed, dismayed”) and יָרֵא (yare’, “be afraid”) and can refer to either emotion. Here it is more likely that they are filled with terror because of the approaching armies.

[50:43]  ⁶ tn Heb “his hands will drop/hang limp.” For the meaning of this idiom see the translator’s note on 6:24.

[50:43]  ⁷ tn Heb “The king of Babylon hears report of them and his hands hang limp.” The verbs are translated as future because the passage is prophetic and the verbs may be interpreted as prophetic perfects (the action viewed as if it were as good as done). In the parallel passage in 6:24 the verbs could be understood as present perfects because the passage could be viewed as in the present. Here it is future.

[50:43]  ⁸ sn Compare Jer 6:22-24 where almost the same exact words as 50:41-43 are applied to the people of Judah. The repetition of prophecies here and in the following verses emphasizes the talionic nature of God’s punishment of Babylon; as they have done to others, so it will be done to them (cf. 25:14; 50:15).

[13:13]  ⁹ tn Or “the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[13:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from its place” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV).

[13:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and in the day of the raging of his anger.”

[13:14]  ¹² tn Or “like a gazelle being chased.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[13:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “his people” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “his nation” (cf. TEV “their own countries”).

[14:16]  ¹⁴ tn The word “thinking” is supplied in the translation in order to make it clear that the next line records their thoughts as they gaze at him.

[2:10]  ¹⁵ sn Witnesses of locust invasions have described the visual effect of large numbers of these creatures crawling over one another on the ground. At such times the ground is said to appear to be in motion, creating a dizzying effect on some observers. The reference in v. 10 to the darkening of the sun and moon probably has to do with the obscuring of visibility due to large numbers of locusts swarming in the sky.

[2:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “before it.”

[2:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “trembles.”

[2:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “gather their brightness.”

[8:8]  ¹⁹ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ²⁰ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ²² tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  ²³ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ²⁴ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ²⁵ tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.