Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters.
Parallel Translations
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Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters.
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Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
Show all 3 translations
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Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Cross-references (17)
- Deuteronomy 8:15 (v8) who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who…
- Psalms 107:35 (v8) He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.
- Numbers 20:11 (v8) Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.
- Jeremiah 5:22 (v7) Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual…
- Job 26:11 (v7) The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.
Show all 17 cross-references
- Psalms 104:32 (v7) He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
- Isaiah 64:1-3 (v7) Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence. As when fire kindles the…
- Exodus 17:6 (v8) Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may…
- Psalms 105:41 (v8) He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.
- Psalms 96:9 (v7) Worship Yahweh in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth.
- Psalms 97:4-5 (v7) His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh, at the presence of…
- Micah 6:1-2 (v7) Listen now to what Yahweh says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, you…
- 1 Corinthians 10:4 (v8) and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
- Job 9:6 (v7) He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.
- Psalms 77:18 (v7) The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
- Psalms 78:15-16 (v8) He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused…
- Nehemiah 9:15 (v8) and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v7 7 At the presence of the Lord Having aroused…
7 At the presence of the Lord Having aroused the senses of men by interrogations, he now furnishes a reply, which many understand to be a personification of the earth; because they take י, yod, to be the affix of the verb חולי, chuli; and they represent the earth as saying, It is my duty to tremble at the presence of the Lord. This fanciful interpretation is untenable; for the term, earth, is immediately subjoined. Others, with more propriety, considering the י, yod, in this, as in many other passages, to be redundant, adopt this interpretation: It is reasonable and becoming that the earth should tremble in the presence of the Lord. Again, the term חולי, chuli, is by many rendered in the imperative mood; which interpretation I readily adopt, as it is most probable that the prophet again makes an appeal to the earth, that the hearts of men may be the more sensibly moved. The meaning is the same, — It must be that the earth quake at the presence of her King. And this view receives confirmation from the term אדון, adon, being used, which signifies a lord or a master. He then immediately introduces the name of the God of Jacob, for the purpose of banishing from men all notions of false gods. Their minds being prone to deceit, they are always in great danger of allowing idols to usurp the place of the true God. Another miracle is mentioned, in which God, after the passage of the people through the Red Sea, gave an additional splendid manifestation of his power in the wilderness. The glory of God, as he informs us, did not appear for one day only, on the departure of the people; it constantly shone in his other works, as when a stream suddenly issued out of the dry rock, Exodus 17:6. Waters may be found trickling out from among rocks and stony places, but to make them flow out of a dry rock, was unquestionably above the ordinary course of nature, or miraculous. I have no intention of entering into any ingenious discussion, how the stone was converted into water; all that the prophet means amounts simply to this, that water flowed in places formerly dry and hard. How absurd, then, is it for the sophists to pretend that a transubstantiation takes place in every case in which the Scripture affirms that a change has been produced? The substance of the stone was not converted into water, but God miraculously created the water, which gushed out of the dry rock.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7–8 Ought then his people to be insensible when they…
Ought then his people to be insensible when they see his power and majesty?
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–8 Psa 114:7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of…
Psa 114:7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
Ver. 7. Tremble, thou earth, &c.] Heb. Be in pain, as a travailing woman; for if the giving of the law had such dreadful effects, what should the breaking thereof have?
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At the presence of the God of Jacob] Whom Jacob, that is, God’s covenanted people, knoweth and confideth in amidst all his austerities, Isa 63:16, and can boldly say, as Hab 1:12, "Art not thou from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die."
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v7 But why do I ask these questions? Ye mountains…
But why do I ask these questions? Ye mountains did no more than what was just and fit at the approach and appearance of the great God; yea, the whole earth hath reason to tremble and quake upon such occasions.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–8 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,....…
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,.... Or, "the earth has trembled at the presence of the Lord"; so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it; the imperative is sometimes put for the preterite or past tense, see Psa 22:9, likewise the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions thus render it, "the earth is moved at the presence of the Lord"; and then the sense is by a prosopopoeia. Is it to be wondered at, that we, the sea, the river of Jordan, the mountains and hills, have fled, or have been driven back, or have skipped like rams and lambs, when the whole earth, of which we are a part, has trembled at the presence of God? who, when he does but look, the earth trembles; and when he touches the hills, they smoke, Psa 104:32. It is at the same presence of God we have been thus moved, the power of which we have felt, even
at the presence of the God of Jacob; who brought Jacob out of Egypt, led him through the sea, and gave him the law on Sinai. This is not to be understood of the general and common presence of God, which is everywhere, and with all his creatures for this is not attended with such wonderful phenomena as here mentioned, either in the literal or mystic sense; but of the majestic, powerful, and gracious presence of God; such as he sometimes causes to attend his ministers, his word, his churches, his martyrs and confessors; and so as to strike an awe upon, and terror into, their greatest enemies, as well as to convert his own people.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v7 Tremble - The mountains did more than what was…
Tremble - The mountains did more than what was fit at the appearance of the great God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v8 Verse 8. The flint] I have translated חלמיש challamish,…
Verse 8. The flint] I have translated חלמיש challamish, GRANITE; for such is the rock of Horeb, a piece of which now lies before me.
This short and apparently imperfect Psalm, for elegance and sublimity, yields to few in the whole book.
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It is so well translated in the old Psalter, that I think I shall gratify the reader by laying it before him.
Ps 114:1. In gangyng of Isrel oute of Egipt,
Of the house of Jacob fra hethen folke.
Ps 114:2. Made is Jude his halawyng
Isrel might of hym.
Ps 114:3. The se sawe and fled,
Jurdan turned is agayne;
Ps 114:4. Hawes gladed als wethers,
And hilles als lambes of schepe.
Ps 114:5. What is to the se, that thou fled?
And thou Jordane that thou ert turned agayne?
Ps 114:6. Hawes gladded als wethers?
And hils als lambs of schepe.
Ps 114:7. Fra the face of Lorde styrde is the erth,
Fra the face of God of Jabob;
Ps 114:8. That turnes the stane in stank of waters,
And roche in wels of waters.
And, as a still more ancient specimen of our language, I shall insert the Anglo-Saxon, with a literal reading, line for line, as near to the Saxon as possible, merely to show the affinity of the languages.
Ps 114:1. [Anglo-Saxon]
Ps 114:2. [Anglo-Saxon]
Ps 114:3. [Anglo-Saxon]
Ps 114:4. [Anglo-Saxon]
Ps 114:5. [Anglo-Saxon]
Ps 114:6. [Anglo-Saxon]
Ps 114:7. [Anglo-Saxon]
Ps 114:8. [Anglo-Saxon]
Ps 114:1. On outgang Israel of Egypt,
House Jacob of folk foreigners;
Ps 114:2. Made is Jacob holyness his;
Israel andweald (government) his.
Ps 114:3. Sea saw, and flew!
Jordan turned underback!
Ps 114:4. Mounts they fain (rejoiced) so (as) rams,
And burghs (hillocks) so (as) lamb-sheep.
Ps 114:5. What is the sea, that thou flew?
And thou river for that thou turned is underback?
Ps 114:6. Mounts ye fained (rejoiced) so so rams;
And hills so so lambs-sheep.
Ps 114:7. From sight Lord's stirred is earth;
From sight God of Jacob.
Ps 114:8. Who turned stone in mere waters;
And cliffs in wells waters.
I have retained some words above in nearly their Saxon form, because they still exist in our old writers; or, with little variation, in those of the present day: -
Ps 114:2. Andweald, government. Hence weal and wealth, commonweal or wealth; the general government, that which produces the welfare of the country.
Ps 114:4. Faegnodon, fained - desired fervently, felt delight in expectation.
Ps 114:4. Burgh, a hill - a mound or heap of earth, such as was raised up over the dead. Hence a barrow; and hence the word bury, to inhume the dead.
Ps 114:8. Mere, or meer, a large pool of water, a lake, a lough, still in use in the north of England. Gentlemen's ponds, or large sheets of water so called; and hence Winander-mere. a large lake in Westmoreland. Mere also signifies limit or boundary; hence the Mersey, the river which divides Lancashire from Cheshire, and serves as a boundary to both counties. The mere that spreads itself out to the sea.
Instead of cludas, which signifies rocks, one MS. has [Anglo-Saxon] clyf, which signifies a craggy mountain or broken rock.
The reader will see from this specimen how much of our ancient language still remains in the present; and perhaps also how much, in his opinion, we have amplified and improved our mother tongue.
ANALYSIS OF THE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH PSALM
David in this Psalm chants forth the wonderful works and miracles that God wrought, when he brought forth Israel out of Egypt.
This Psalm has two parts: -
I. A narration of Israel's deliverance, amplified by the state they were in, Ps 114:1; the state to which they were brought, Ps 114:2; the miracles then done, Ps 114:3; and the law given, Ps 114:4.
II. A prosopopoeia set down by way of dialogue: 1. The prophet asks the sea and Jordan why they fled, Ps 114:5-6. 2. To which the answer is, that "the earth trembled," c., Ps 114:7-8.
I. In the narration, Israel's condition is set down by way of comparison, in order that their deliverance might make the deeper impression. We must recollect that Jacob and Judah in this place signify the whole nation of the Israelites that descended out of Jacob's loins but of the house of Jacob there is made particular mention, because with him they came into Egypt; and of Judah, because from him they were called Jews. This being premised. 1. We are presented with the condition of the Jews before their deliverance; before they were formed into a state or Church; they were among "a people of a strange language."
2. The condition of the Jews after their deliverance: "When Israel went out of Egypt," c., then "Judah was his sanctuary," c. 1. "His sanctuary: " A people sanctified and adopted by him, consecrated to his worship as holy temples and sanctuaries, and having a holy priest to govern them in points of piety. 2. "His dominion:" In which he reigned as King by his laws and Spirit, and appointed godly magistrates to rule them in matters of policy for the government was a theocracy, till they cast it off by choosing a king.
The prophet explains the manner of their deliverance, which was by miracles and signs and gives us these instances: -
1. "The sea saw it, and fled," as the people advanced to it. "At the presence of the Lord it turned back all night," Ex 14:21. In a poetical strain he attributes this to the sense of the sea. "The sea saw," c.
2. "Jordan was driven back," &c. Forty years after, when they were entering the promised land, then Jordan suffered a long reflux, Jos 3:15-17.
3. At Sinai, when the law was given, then the mountains and hills quaked: "The mountains skipped like rams," &c.
II. This Psalm abounds with poetical imagery and having related the wonderful deliverances wrought for God's people, the psalmist expostulates with the sea and mountains, and interrogates them as to what so strangely altered their course. "What ailed thee, O thou sea, c. ?. - Ye mountains that ye skipped like rams," &c.
To which, in the person of the earth speaking to herself, the prophet answers thus making both a prosopopoeia and an apostrophe.
1. "Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord," c. As if it had been said, Would you know the reason why we fly? The cause is, the Lord has appeared and showed his force and power, and laid his commands upon us and therefore, not abiding his presence, the mountains are moved, &c.
2. Of his power this miracle is sufficient for an instance: "Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters." Causing not only waters to flow from thence, but turning the very substance of a flint, which is apter to yield fire than water, into that fluid element, Nu 20:11. See Clarke on Ps 114:8.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v7 Psa 114:7-8. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of…
Psa 114:7-8. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord — But why do I ask these questions? Ye mountains and hills were no further moved than was quite just and proper, at the approach and presence of the great Jehovah. Yea, the whole earth had reason to tremble and quake on such an occasion. Which turned the rock into a standing water, &c. — For what cannot he do, who performs such an astonishing wonder as to turn rocks into streams and rivers, and flints into fountains of water? Well may we stand in awe of this God of almighty power, and well may we put our trust in this Being of boundless goodness, who, rather than his people should want what is necessary for their sustenance, will bring substantial bread out of the airy clouds, and refreshing waters out of the dry and flinty rocks!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7–8 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord…
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord ... - This is at the same time an explanation of the facts referred to in the previous verses, and the statement of an important truth in regard to the power of God. The true explanation - as here implied - of what occurred to the sea, to the Jordan, to the mountains, and to the hills, was the fact that God was there; the inference from that, or the truth which followed from that, was, that before that God in whose presence the very mountains shook, and from whom the waters of the sea fled in alarm the whole earth should tremble.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7–8 7. Tremble, thou earth— “Tremble,” here, answers to skip…
7. Tremble, thou earth— “Tremble,” here, answers to skip in Psa_114:4; Psa_114:6, and is more literal. The psalmist advances to the imperative mode of address, commanding the whole earth to tremble at the presence of the Lord… of the God of Jacob, in his exalted majesty and power.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–8 7. Cp. Psa_97:4-5. The Lord (Adôn) denotes Jehovah as…
7. Cp. Psa_97:4-5. The Lord (Adôn) denotes Jehovah as the Ruler of the world. He it is and no other Who is the God of Jacob.
7, 8. It was at Jehovah’s presence that earth trembled then; but instead of a formal answer the poet’s words take a wider range, and he bids earth tremble still at the presence of its Lord, Who proves His sovereignty by transforming its most stubborn elements for the benefit of His people.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v7 (7) Tremble.—Literally, be in travail. This answer to his…
(7) Tremble.—Literally, be in travail. This answer to his question is introduced with consummate art. Well may the mountains tremble, when it is the Lord of all the earth, the God of Jacob, who is present. Notice that till now the mention of the Divine power which wrought the deliverance was kept in suspense.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–8 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord.…
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord. The answer is given, but only indirectly given, in these words. Nothing less than "the presence of the Lord a miraculous and abnormal presence can have produced the strange phenomena. The earth has felt the presence of God, and has trembled, and has done right to tremble; but Israel may take comfort from the theophany, for it is a manifestation on her behalf. The presence that has made itself felt is the presence of the God of Jacob the God who watches over Jacob, and will succor and protect him constantly.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv7–8 Ver. 7. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of…
Ver. 7. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. Or "from before the Lord, the Adonai, the Master and King." Very fitly does the Psalm call upon all nature again to feel a holy awe because its Ruler is still in its midst.
"Quake when Jehovah walks abroad,
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Quake earth, at sight of Israel's God."
Let the believer feel that God is near, and he will serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Awe is not cast out by faith, but the rather it becomes deeper and more profound. The Lord is most reverenced where he is most loved.
Ver. 7. Tremble, thou earth. Hebrew, Be in pain, as a travailing woman: for if the giving of the law had such dreadful effects, what should the breaking thereof have? John Trapp.
Ver. 7.
"At the presence of the Lord be in pangs, O earth."
"Lord, "Adon, the Sovereign Ruler. "Pangs, "Chuli: Mic 4:10. The convulsions of nature, which accompanied the Exodus, were as the birth throes of the Israelite people. "A nation was born in a day." But the deliverance out of Babylon was the prelude to a far more wondrous truth; that of him, in whom human nature was to be regenerated. William Kay.
Ver. 7-8. Tremble, etc. This is an answer to the preceding question: as if he had said, It is no wonder that Sinai, and Horeb, and a few adjoining hills should thus tremble at the majestic presence of God; for the whole earth must do so, whenever he pleases. Thomas Fenton.
Ver. 7-8. Holy awe.
1. Should be caused by the fact of the divine presence.
2. Should be increased by his covenant character"the God of Jacob."
3. Should culminate when we see displays of his grace towards his people"which turned, "etc.
4. Should become universal.
Psalms 114:8*
Ver 8. Which turned the rock into a standing water, causing a mere or lake to stand at its foot, making the wilderness a pool: so abundant was the supply of water from the rock that it remained like water in a reservoir.
The flint into a fountain of waters, which flowed freely in streams, following the tribes in their devious marches. Behold what God can do! It seemed impossible that the flinty rock should become a fountain; but he speaks, and it is done. Not only do mountains move, but rocks yield rivers when the God of Israel wills that it should be so.
"From stone and solid rock he brings
The spreading lake, the gushing springs."
"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together, " for he it is and he alone who doeth such wonders as these. He supplies our temporal needs from sources of the most unlikely kind, and never suffers the stream of his liberality to fail. As for our spiritual necessities they are all met by the water and the blood which gushed of old from the riven rock, Christ Jesus: therefore let us extol the Lord our God.
Our deliverance from under the yoke of sin is strikingly typified in the going up of Israel from Egypt, and so also was the victory of our Lord over the powers of death and hell. The Exodus should therefore be earnestly remembered by Christian hearts. Did not Moses on the mount of transfiguration speak to our Lord of "the exodus" which he should shortly accomplish at Jerusalem; and is it not written of the hosts above that they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and of the Lamb? Do we not ourselves expect another coming of the Lord, when before his face heaven and earth shall flee away and there shall be no more sea? We join then with the singers around the Passover table and make their Hallel ours, for we too have been led out of bondage and guided like a flock through a desert land, wherein the Lord supplies our wants with heavenly manna and water from the Rock of ages. Praise ye the Lord.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 He turned the rock into a pool of water,…
He turned the rock into a pool of water, the hard rock into a spring of water
These two phrases are parallel. The writer describes Yahweh causing water to flow from the rock as if he turned the rock into water. (See: Parallelism and Metaphor)
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the hard rock into a spring of water
The verb may be supplied from the previous phrase. AT: "He turned the hard rock into a spring of water" (See: Ellipsis)
translationWords
fountain
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 114:8 The Lord miraculously provided for his people in…
114:8 The Lord miraculously provided for his people in hard times after the Exile, just as he had done in the wilderness after the Exodus.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.