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 68:8

68:8 the earth shakes,

yes, the heavens pour down rain

before God, the God of Sinai, ⁴ 

before God, the God of Israel. ⁵ 

Psalms 77:18

77:18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;

the lightning bolts lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook. ⁶ 

Psalms 114:7

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

before the God of Jacob,

Jeremiah 4:24

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

All the hills were swaying back and forth!

Micah 1:4

1:4 The mountains will disintegrate ⁷  beneath him,

and the valleys will be split in two. ⁸ 

The mountains will melt ⁹  like wax in a fire,

the rocks will slide down like water cascading down a steep slope. ¹⁰ 

Nahum 1:5

1:5 The mountains tremble before him, ¹¹ 

the hills convulse; ¹² 

the earth is laid waste ¹³  before him,

the world and all its inhabitants ¹⁴  are laid waste. ¹⁵ 

Habakkuk 3:10

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

The torrential downpour sweeps through. ¹⁶ 

The great deep ¹⁷  shouts out;

it lifts its hands high. ¹⁸ 

Revelation 20:11

The Great White Throne

20:11 Then ¹⁹  I saw a large ²⁰  white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven ²¹  fled ²²  from his presence, and no place was found for them.

[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.

[68:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the Lord rules from Sinai.

[68:8]  ⁵ sn The language of vv. 7-8 is reminiscent of Judg 5:4-5, which tells how the God of Sinai came in the storm and annihilated the Canaanite forces led by Sisera. The presence of allusion does not mean, however, that this is a purely historical reference. The psalmist is describing God’s typical appearance as a warrior in terms of his prior self-revelation as ancient events are reactualized in the psalmist’s experience. (For a similar literary technique, see Hab 3.)

[77:18]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[1:4]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ sn The mountains will disintegrate…the valleys will be split in two. This imagery pictures an earthquake and accompanying landslide.

[1:4]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The words “are laid waste” are not in the Hebrew text, but are an implied repetition from the previous line.

[3:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.

[3:10]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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.

[20:11]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

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

[20:11]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “vanished.”