Psalms 46:6

46:6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms are overthrown. ¹ 

God ²  gives a shout, ³  the earth dissolves. ⁴ 

Psalms 97:5

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

before the Lord of the whole earth.

Amos 9:5

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

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ⁶ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ⁷  rises like the River Nile, ⁸ 

and then grows calm ⁹  like the Nile in Egypt. ¹⁰ 

Amos 9:13

9:13 “Be sure of this, ¹¹  the time is ¹²  coming,” says the Lord,

“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper ¹³ 

and the one who stomps the grapes ¹⁴  will overtake ¹⁵  the planter. ¹⁶ 

Juice will run down the slopes, ¹⁷ 

it will flow down all the hillsides. ¹⁸ 

Nahum 1:5

1:5 The mountains tremble before him, ¹⁹ 

the hills convulse; ²⁰ 

the earth is laid waste ²¹  before him,

the world and all its inhabitants ²²  are laid waste. ²³ 

[46:6]  ¹ tn Heb “nations roar, kingdoms shake.” The Hebrew verb הָמָה (hamah, “roar, be in uproar”) is used in v. 3 of the waves crashing, while the verb מוֹט (mot, “overthrown”) is used in v. 2 of mountains tumbling into the sea (see also v. 5, where the psalm affirms that Jerusalem “cannot be moved”). The repetition of the verbs suggests that the language of vv. 2-3 is symbolic and depicts the upheaval that characterizes relationships between the nations of the earth. As some nations (symbolized by the surging, chaotic waters) show hostility, others (symbolized by the mountains) come crashing down to destruction. The surging waters are symbolic of chaotic forces in other poetic texts (see, for example, Isa 17:12; Jer 51:42) and mountains can symbolize strong kingdoms (see, for example, Jer 51:25).

[46:6]  ² tn Heb “He.” God is the obvious referent here (see v. 5), and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[46:6]  ³ tn Heb “offers his voice.” In theophanic texts the phrase refers to God’s thunderous shout which functions as a battle cry (see Pss 18:13; 68:33).

[46:6]  ⁴ tn Or “melts.” See Amos 9:5. The image depicts the nation’s helplessness before Jerusalem’s defender, who annihilates their armies (see vv. 8-9). The imperfect verbal form emphasizes the characteristic nature of the action described.

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

[9:5]  ⁶ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ⁹ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ¹⁰ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.

[9:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[9:13]  ¹² tn Heb “the days are.”

[9:13]  ¹³ sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.

[9:13]  ¹⁴ sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.

[9:13]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[9:13]  ¹⁶ sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.

[9:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”

[1:5]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn The words “are laid waste” are not in the Hebrew text, but are an implied repetition from the previous line.