Psalms 18:7

18:7 The earth heaved and shook; ¹ 

the roots of the mountains ²  trembled; ³ 

they heaved because he was angry.

Psalms 60:2-3

60:2 You made the earth quake; you split it open. ⁴ 

Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall. ⁵ 

60:3 You have made your people experience hard times; ⁶ 

you have made us drink intoxicating wine. ⁷ 

Psalms 114:3-7

114:3 The sea looked and fled; ⁸ 

the Jordan River ⁹  turned back. ¹⁰ 

114:4 The mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs. ¹¹ 

114:5 Why do you flee, O sea?

Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?

114:6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,

like lambs, O hills?

114:7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord –

before the God of Jacob,

Isaiah 5:25

5:25 So the Lord is furious ¹²  with his people;

he lifts ¹³  his hand and strikes them.

The mountains shake,

and corpses lie like manure ¹⁴  in the middle of the streets.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 24:19-20

24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,

the earth is ripped to shreds,

the earth shakes violently. ¹⁶ 

24:20 The earth will stagger around ¹⁷  like a drunk;

it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. ¹⁸ 

Its sin will weigh it down,

and it will fall and never get up again.

Jeremiah 4:24-26

4:24 I looked at the mountains and saw that they were shaking.

All the hills were swaying back and forth!

4:25 I looked and saw that there were no more people, ¹⁹ 

and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.

4:26 I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert

and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins.

The Lord had brought this all about

because of his blazing anger. ²⁰ 

Micah 1:3-5

1:3 Look, ²¹  the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place!

He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops! ²² 

1:4 The mountains will disintegrate ²³  beneath him,

and the valleys will be split in two. ²⁴ 

The mountains will melt ²⁵  like wax in a fire,

the rocks will slide down like water cascading down a steep slope. ²⁶ 

1:5 All this is because of Jacob’s rebellion

and ²⁷  the sins of the nation ²⁸  of Israel.

How has Jacob rebelled, you ask? ²⁹ 

Samaria epitomizes their rebellion! ³⁰ 

Where are Judah’s pagan worship centers, you ask? ³¹ 

They are right in Jerusalem! ³² 

Nahum 1:5-6

1:5 The mountains tremble before him, ³³ 

the hills convulse; ³⁴ 

the earth is laid waste ³⁵  before him,

the world and all its inhabitants ³⁶  are laid waste. ³⁷ 

1:6 No one can withstand ³⁸  his indignation! ³⁹ 

No one can resist ⁴⁰  his fierce anger! ⁴¹ 

His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire,

boulders are broken up ⁴²  as he approaches. ⁴³ 

Habakkuk 3:5-8

3:5 Plague goes before him;

pestilence ⁴⁴  marches right behind him. ⁴⁵ 

3:6 He takes his battle position ⁴⁶  and shakes ⁴⁷  the earth;

with a mere look he frightens ⁴⁸  the nations.

The ancient mountains disintegrate; ⁴⁹ 

the primeval hills are flattened.

He travels on the ancient roads. ⁵⁰ 

3:7 I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; ⁵¹ 

the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking. ⁵² 

3:8 Is the Lord mad at the rivers?

Are you angry with the rivers?

Are you enraged at the sea? ⁵³ 

Is this why ⁵⁴  you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, ⁵⁵ 

your victorious chariots? ⁵⁶ 

Haggai 2:6-7

2:6 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says: ‘In just a little while ⁵⁷  I will once again shake the sky ⁵⁸  and the earth, the sea and the dry ground. 2:7 I will also shake up all the nations, and they ⁵⁹  will offer their treasures; ⁶⁰  then I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord who rules over all.

[18:7]  ¹ sn The earth heaved and shook. The imagery pictures an earthquake in which the earth’s surface rises and falls. The earthquake motif is common in OT theophanies of God as warrior and in ancient Near Eastern literary descriptions of warring gods and kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 160-62.

[18:7]  ² tn 2 Sam 22:8 has “heavens” which forms a merism with “earth” in the preceding line. The “foundations of the heavens” would be the mountains. However, the reading “foundations of the mountains” has a parallel in Deut 32:22.

[18:7]  ³ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the three prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive in the verse.

[60:2]  ⁴ tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.

[60:2]  ⁵ sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.

[60:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “you have caused your people to see [what is] hard.”

[60:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “wine of staggering,” that is, intoxicating wine that makes one stagger in drunkenness. Intoxicating wine is here an image of divine judgment that makes its victims stagger like drunkards. See Isa 51:17-23.

[114:3]  ⁸ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[114:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Jordan” (also in v. 5). The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[114:3]  ¹⁰ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).

[114:4]  ¹¹ sn The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. This may recall the theophany at Sinai when the mountain shook before God’s presence (Exod 19:18).

[5:25]  ¹² tn Heb “the anger of the Lord rages.”

[5:25]  ¹³ tn Or “extends”; KJV, ASV “he hath stretched forth.”

[5:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “garbage” (NCV, CEV, NLT); NAB, NASB, NIV “refuse.”

[5:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[24:19]  ¹⁶ tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each lines ends with אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.

[24:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.

[24:20]  ¹⁸ tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[4:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “there was no man/human being.”

[4:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “because of the Lord, because of his blazing anger.”

[1:3]  ²¹ tn Or “For look.” The expression כִּי־הִנֵּה (ki-hinneh) may function as an explanatory introduction (“For look!”; Isa 26:21; 60:2; 65:17, 18: 66:15; Jer 1:15; 25:29; 30:10; 45:5; 46:27; 50:9; Ezek 30:9; 36:9; Zech 2:10; 3:8), or as an emphatic introduction (“Look!”; Jdgs 3:15; Isa 3:1; Jer 8:17; 30:3; 49:15; Hos 9:6; Joel 3:1 [HT 4:1]; Amos 4:2, 13; 6:11, 14; 9:9; Hab 1:6; Zech 2:9 [HT 2:13]; Zech 3:9; 11:16).

[1:3]  ²² tn Or “high places” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:4]  ²³ tn Or “melt” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This is a figurative description of earthquakes, landslides, and collapse of the mountains, rather than some sort of volcanic activity (note the remainder of the verse).

[1:4]  ²⁴ sn The mountains will disintegrate…the valleys will be split in two. This imagery pictures an earthquake and accompanying landslide.

[1:4]  ²⁵ tn The words “the mountains will melt” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The simile extends back to the first line of the verse.

[1:4]  ²⁶ tn The words “the rocks will slide down” are supplied in the translation for clarification. This simile elaborates on the prior one and further develops the imagery of the verse’s first line.

[1:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and because of.” This was simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[1:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “What is the rebellion of Jacob?”

[1:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Is it not Samaria?” The negated rhetorical question expects the answer, “It certainly is!” To make this clear the question has been translated as a strong affirmative statement.

[1:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “What are Judah’s high places?”

[1:5]  ³² tn Heb “Is it not Jerusalem?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “It certainly is!”

[1:5]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn The words “are laid waste” are not in the Hebrew text, but are an implied repetition from the previous line.

[1:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “stand before” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT). The Hebrew verb עָמַד (’amad, “stand”) here denotes “to resist, withstand.” It is used elsewhere of warriors taking a stand in battle to hold their ground against enemies (Judg 2:14; Josh 10:8; 21:44; 23:9; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 11:16; Amos 2:15). It is also used of people trying to protect their lives from enemy attack (Esth 8:11; 9:16). Like a mighty warrior, the Lord will attack his enemies, but none will be able to make a stand against him; none will be able to hold their ground against him; and none will be able to protect themselves from his onslaught (Pss 76:7[8]; 147:17; Mal 3:2).

[1:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Who can stand before his indignation?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer; it is translated here as an emphatic denial. The Hebrew noun זַעַם (za’am, “indignation, curse”) connotes the angry wrath or indignant curse of God (Isa 10:5, 25; 13:5; 26:20; 30:27; Jer 10:10; 15:17; 50:25; Ezek 21:36; 22:24, 31; Hab 3:12; Zeph 3:8; Pss 38:4; 69:25; 78:49; 102:11; Lam 2:6; Dan 8:19; 11:36). It depicts anger expressed in the form of punishment (HALOT 276 s.v.; TWOT 1:247).

[1:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Who can rise up against…?” The verb יָקוּם (yaqum, “arise”) is here a figurative expression connoting resistance. Although the adversative sense of בְּ (bet) with יָקוּם (yaqum, “against him”) is attested, denoting hostile action taken against one’s enemy (Mic 7:6; Ps 27:12), the locative sense (“before him”) is preferred due to the parallelism with לִפְנֵי (lifney, “before him”).

[1:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Who can rise up against the heat of his anger?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer which is translated as an emphatic denial to clarify the point.

[1:6]  ⁴² tn Or “burst into flames.” The Niphal perfect נִתְּצוּ (nittÿtsu) from נָתַץ (natats, “to break up, throw down”) may denote “are broken up” or “are thrown down.” The BHS editors suggest emending the MT’s נִתְּצוּ (nittÿtsu) to נִצְּתּוּ (nitsÿtu, Niphal perfect from יָצַת [yatsat, “to burn, to kindle, to burst into flames”]): “boulders burst into flames.” This merely involves the simple transposition of the second and third consonants. This emendation is supported by a few Hebrew mss (cited in BHS apparatus). It is supported contextually by fire and heat motifs in 1:5-6. The same metathesis of נִתְּצוּ and נִצְּתּוּ occurs in Jer 4:26.

[1:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “before him” (so NAB, NIV, TEV).

[3:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Because of parallelism with the previous line, the meaning “pestilence” is favored for רֶשֶׁף (reshef) here, but usage elsewhere suggests a destructive bolt of fire may be in view. See BDB 958 s.v.

[3:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “goes out at his feet.”

[3:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “he stands.”

[3:6]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”

[3:6]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”

[3:6]  ⁵⁰ 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.

[3:7]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “under trouble I saw the tents of Cushan.”

[3:7]  ⁵² tn R. D. Patterson takes תַּחַת אֲוֶן (takhat ’aven) in the first line as a place name, “Tahath-Aven.” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 237.) In this case one may translate the verse as a tricolon: “I look at Tahath-Aven. The tents of Cushan are shaking, the tent curtains of the land of Midian.”

[3:8]  ⁵³ sn The following context suggests these questions should be answered, “Yes.” The rivers and the sea, symbolizing here the hostile nations (v. 12), are objects of the Lord’s anger (vv. 10, 15).

[3:8]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “so that.” Here כִּי (ki) is resultative. See the note on the phrase “make it” in 2:18.

[3:8]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “you mount your horses.” As the next line makes clear, the Lord is pictured here as a charioteer, not a cavalryman. Note NRSV here, “when you drove your horses, // your chariots to victory.”

[3:8]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “chariots of deliverance.”

[2:6]  ⁵⁷ tc The difficult MT reading עוֹד אַחַת מְעַט הִיא (’od ’akhat mÿ’at hi’, “yet once, it is little”; cf. NAB “One moment yet, a little while”) appears as “yet once” in the LXX, omitting the last two Hebrew words. However, the point being made is that the anticipated action is imminent; thus the repetition provides emphasis.

[2:6]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “the heavens.” The same Hebrew word, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “sky” or “heavens” depending on the context. Although many English versions translate the term as “heavens” here, the other three elements present in this context (earth, sea, dry ground) suggest “sky” is in view.

[2:7]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “all the nations.”

[2:7]  ⁶⁰ tn Though the subject here is singular (חֶמְדַּה, khemdah; “desire”), the preceding plural predicate mandates a collective subject, “desired (things)” or, better, an emendation to a plural form, חֲמֻדֹת (khamudot, “desirable [things],” hence “treasures”). Cf. ASV “the precious things”; NASB “the wealth”; NRSV “the treasure.” In the OT context this has no direct reference to the coming of the Messiah.