Jude 1:4

1:4 For certain men ¹  have secretly slipped in among you ²  – men who long ago ³  were marked out ⁴  for the condemnation I am about to describe ⁵  – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil ⁶  and who deny our only Master ⁷  and Lord, ⁸  Jesus Christ.

Psalms 97:5

97:5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

before the Lord of the whole earth.

Isaiah 64:1-3

64:1 (63:19b) ⁹  If only you would tear apart the sky ¹⁰  and come down!

The mountains would tremble ¹¹  before you!

64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,

or fire makes water boil,

let your adversaries know who you are, ¹² 

and may the nations shake at your presence!

64:3 When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise, ¹³ 

you came down, and the mountains trembled ¹⁴  before you.

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ¹⁵ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ¹⁶ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ¹⁷  rises like the River Nile, ¹⁸ 

and then grows calm ¹⁹  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁰ 

Nahum 1:5

1:5 The mountains tremble before him, ²¹ 

the hills convulse; ²² 

the earth is laid waste ²³  before him,

the world and all its inhabitants ²⁴  are laid waste. ²⁵ 

Habakkuk 3:6

3:6 He takes his battle position ²⁶  and shakes ²⁷  the earth;

with a mere look he frightens ²⁸  the nations.

The ancient mountains disintegrate; ²⁹ 

the primeval hills are flattened.

He travels on the ancient roads. ³⁰ 

Habakkuk 3:10

3:10 When the mountains see you, they shake.

The torrential downpour sweeps through. ³¹ 

The great deep ³²  shouts out;

it lifts its hands high. ³³ 

Habakkuk 3:2

3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; ³⁴ 

I am awed, ³⁵  Lord, by what you accomplished. ³⁶ 

In our time ³⁷  repeat those deeds; ³⁸ 

in our time reveal them again. ³⁹ 

But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! ⁴⁰ 

Habakkuk 3:10-12

3:10 When the mountains see you, they shake.

The torrential downpour sweeps through. ⁴¹ 

The great deep ⁴²  shouts out;

it lifts its hands high. ⁴³ 

3:11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses; ⁴⁴ 

the flash of your arrows drives them away, ⁴⁵ 

the bright light of your lightning-quick spear. ⁴⁶ 

3:12 You furiously stomp on the earth,

you angrily trample down the nations.

Revelation 20:11

The Great White Throne

20:11 Then ⁴⁷  I saw a large ⁴⁸  white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven ⁴⁹  fled ⁵⁰  from his presence, and no place was found for them.

[1:4]  ¹ tn Grk “people.” However, if Jude is indeed arguing that Peter’s prophecy about false teachers has come true, these are most likely men in the original historical and cultural setting. See discussion of this point in the note on the phrase “these men” in 2 Pet 2:12.

[1:4]  ² tn “Among you” is not in the Greek text, but is obviously implied.

[1:4]  ³ tn Or “in the past.” The adverb πάλαι (palai) can refer to either, though the meaning “long ago” is more common.

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “written about.”

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “for this condemnation.” τοῦτο (touto) is almost surely a kataphoric demonstrative pronoun, pointing to what follows in vv. 5-18. Otherwise, the condemnation is only implied (in v. 3b) or is merely a statement of their sinfulness (“ungodly” in v. 4b), not a judgment of it.

[1:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “debauchery.” This is the same word Peter uses to predict what the false teachers will be like (2 Pet 2:2, 7, 18).

[1:4]  ⁷ tc Most later witnesses (P Ψ Ï sy) have θεόν (qeon, “God”) after δεσπότην (despothn, “master”), which appears to be a motivated reading in that it explicitly links “Master” to “God” in keeping with the normal NT pattern (see Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Tim 2:21; Rev 6:10). In patristic Greek, δεσπότης (despoth") was used especially of God (cf. BDAG 220 s.v. 1.b.). The earlier and better witnesses (Ì^72,78 א A B C 0251 33 81 323 1241 1739 al co) lack θεόν; the shorter reading is thus preferred on both internal and external grounds.

[1:4]  ⁸ tn The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see ExSyn 270-78. See also Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1

[64:1]  ⁹ sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[64:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[64:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.

[64:2]  ¹² tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition -לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”

[64:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “[for which] we were not waiting.”

[64:3]  ¹⁴ tn See the note at v. 1.

[9:5]  ¹⁵ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ²⁰ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.

[1:5]  ²¹ tn Or “because of him.” The Hebrew preposition מִמֶּנּוּ (mimmenu) is taken in a causal sense (“because of him”) by NASB, NJPS; however, it is taken in a locative sense (“before him”) by KJV, NKJV, NRSV, NIV. On the other hand, the LXX rendered it in a separative sense: ἀπ' αὐτοῦ (ap autou, “from him”). The parallelism between 1:5a and 1:5b seems to favor the locative nuance: “The mountains quake before him (מִמֶּנּוּ), the earth is laid waste before him (מִפָּנָיו, mifanayv).”

[1:5]  ²² tn Traditionally, “the hills melt.” English versions typically render הִתְמֹגָגוּ (hitmogagu) as “melt” (KJV, NRSV, NIV, NJPS) or “dissolve” (NASB). The LXX renders it ἐσαλεύθησαν (esaleuqhsan, “are shaken”). The Hebrew root has a range of meanings: (1) “to melt,” of courage (Ps 107:26) or troops retreating (“melting away” in fear) in battle (1 Sam 14:16); (2) “to dissolve,” of mountains dissolving due to erosion (Amos 9:13); (3) “to quake, shake apart,” of mountains quaking, swaying backwards and forwards, coming apart, and collapsing in an earthquake (Amos 9:5; Pss 46:6 [7]; 75:3 [4]). The latter fits the imagery of v. 5 (violent earthquakes): the earth trembles in fear at the approach of the Divine Warrior (e.g., Hab 3:6).

[1:5]  ²³ tn Or “is upheaved”; or “heaves.” There is debate whether the originally unpointed Hebrew verb וַתִּשָּׂא (vattissa’) should be vocalized as וְתִּשָּׂא (vÿttissa’; NASB “is upheaved”; NRSV, NJPS “heaves”) from the root נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”) or as וַתִּשָּׁא (vattisha’, “is devastated, laid waste”) from the root שֹׁאָה (sho’ah, “to devastate, lay waste”). The vocalization וְתִּשָּׂא is attested in the Masoretic tradition and the Greek versions: Origen (“was raised up”), Symmachus (“was moved”), and Aquila (“shivered”). However, וְתִּשָּׂא demands an intransitive (“heaves”) or passive (“is upheaved”) sense which is not attested for the Qal stem. The vocalization וַתִּשָּׁא (“is devastated, laid waste”) is supported by the Syriac and Vulgate. The revocalization of the MT וְתִּשָּׂא (“is lifted up”) to וַתִּשָּׁא (“is devastated”) is suggested by the BHS editors and several Hebrew lexicons (HALOT 726 s.v. נשׁא; BDB 670-71 s.v. נָשָׂא). The revocalization involves only the difference between the form שׂ (sin) and שׁ (shin) and is followed in the present translation.

[1:5]  ²⁴ sn The phrase “the world and all its inhabitants” is used to stress the universal dimensions of God’s revelation of his glory and his acts of judgment (e.g., Pss 33:8; 98:7; Isa 18:3; 26:9, 18; Lam 4:12).

[1:5]  ²⁵ tn The words “are laid waste” are not in the Hebrew text, but are an implied repetition from the previous line.

[3:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he stands.”

[3:6]  ²⁷ tn This verb has been traditionally understood as “measure” (from מוּד, mud), but the immediately following context (vv. 6b-7) favors the meaning “shake” from מָוד (mavd; see HALOT 555 s.v.).

[3:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”

[3:6]  ²⁹ tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”

[3:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “ancient ways [or, “doings”] are his.” The meaning of this line is unclear. Traditionally it has been translated, “his ways are eternal.” However, in this context (see vv. 3, 7) it is more likely that the line speaks of the Lord taking the same route as in the days of Moses and Deborah (see Deut 33:2; Judg 5:4). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 154.

[3:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.

[3:10]  ³² sn The great deep, which is to be equated with the sea (vv. 8, 15), is a symbol of chaos and represents the Lord’s enemies.

[3:10]  ³³ sn Lifting the hands here suggests panic and is accompanied by a cry for mercy (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19). The forces of chaos cannot withstand the Lord’s power revealed in the storm.

[3:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”

[3:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw, Lord, what you accomplished” (cf. NEB).

[3:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “your work.”

[3:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).

[3:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).

[3:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.

[3:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”

[3:10]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.

[3:10]  ⁴² sn The great deep, which is to be equated with the sea (vv. 8, 15), is a symbol of chaos and represents the Lord’s enemies.

[3:10]  ⁴³ sn Lifting the hands here suggests panic and is accompanied by a cry for mercy (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19). The forces of chaos cannot withstand the Lord’s power revealed in the storm.

[3:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “in their lofty dwelling places.”

[3:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “at the light of your arrows they vanish.”

[3:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “at the brightness of the lightning of your spear.”

[20:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Traditionally, “great,” but μέγας (megas) here refers to size rather than importance.

[20:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “and the sky.” The same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky,” and context usually determines which is meant. In this apocalyptic scene, however, it is difficult to be sure what referent to assign the term.

[20:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “vanished.”