Discovery BoxPsalms 77:16
Context77:16 The waters 1 saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and trembled. 2
Yes, the depths of the sea 3 shook with fear. 4
Psalms 97:4-5
Context97:4 His lightning bolts light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
97:5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of the whole earth.
Psalms 114:7
Context114:7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord –
before the God of Jacob,
Isaiah 64:2
Context64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,
or fire makes water boil,
let your adversaries know who you are, 5
and may the nations shake at your presence!
Jeremiah 4:23-26
Context4:23 “I looked at the land and saw 6 that it was an empty wasteland. 7
I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.
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, 8
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. 9
Jeremiah 5:22
Context5:22 “You should fear me!” says the Lord.
“You should tremble in awe before me! 10
I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it can never cross.
Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.
They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.” 11
Amos 8:8
Context8:8 Because of this the earth 12 will quake, 13
and all who live in it will mourn.
The whole earth 14 will rise like the River Nile, 15
it will surge upward 16 and then grow calm, 17 like the Nile in Egypt. 18
Nahum 1:5-6
Context1:5 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
1:6 No one can withstand 24 his indignation! 25
No one can resist 26 his fierce anger! 27
His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire,
boulders are broken up 28 as he approaches. 29
Habakkuk 3:5-6
Context3:5 Plague goes before him;
pestilence 30 marches right behind him. 31
3:6 He takes his battle position 32 and shakes 33 the earth;
with a mere look he frightens 34 the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrate; 35
the primeval hills are flattened.
He travels on the ancient roads. 36
Habakkuk 3:10
Context3:10 When the mountains see you, they shake.
The torrential downpour sweeps through. 37
The great deep 38 shouts out;
it lifts its hands high. 39
Revelation 20:11
Context20:11 Then 40 I saw a large 41 white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven 42 fled 43 from his presence, and no place was found for them.
[77:16] 1 tn The waters of the Red Sea are here personified; they are portrayed as seeing God and fearing him.
[77:16] 2 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.
[77:16] 3 tn The words “of the sea” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[77:16] 4 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.
[64:2] 5 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.”
[4:23] 6 tn Heb “I looked at the land and behold...” This indicates the visionary character of Jeremiah’s description of the future condition of the land of Israel.
[4:23] 7 tn Heb “formless and empty.” This is a case of hendiadys (two nouns joined by “and” both describe the same thing): one noun retains its full nominal force, the other functions as an adjective. The words תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu vavohu) allude to Gen 1:2, hyperbolically picturing a reversal of creation and return to the original precreation chaos.
[4:25] 8 tn Heb “there was no man/human being.”
[4:26] 9 tn Heb “because of the
[5:22] 10 tn Heb “Should you not fear me? Should you not tremble in awe before me?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer explicit in the translation.
[5:22] 11 tn Heb “it.” The referent is made explicit to avoid any possible confusion.
[8:8] 12 tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).
[8:8] 13 tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the
[8:8] 15 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] 17 tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.
[8:8] 18 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.
[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.
[1:6] 24 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
[1:6] 25 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] 26 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] 27 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] 28 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
[1:6] 29 tn Heb “before him” (so NAB, NIV, TEV).
[3:5] 30 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] 31 tn Heb “goes out at his feet.”
[3:6] 33 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] 34 tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”
[3:6] 35 tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”
[3:6] 36 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
[3:10] 37 tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.
[3:10] 38 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] 39 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] 40 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
[20:11] 41 tn Traditionally, “great,” but μέγας (megas) here refers to size rather than importance.
[20:11] 42 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.
