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[a]The earth rocked and shook;
    the foundations of the mountains trembled;
    they shook as his wrath flared up.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 18:8–16 God appears in the storm, which in Palestine comes from the west. The introduction to the theophany (Ps 18:8–9) is probably a description of a violent, hot, and dry east-wind storm. In the fall transition period from the rainless summer to the rainy winter such storms regularly precede the rains, cf. Ex 14:21–22.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;(A)
    consuming fire(B) came from his mouth,
    burning coals(C) blazed out of it.

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His lightening illumines the world;
    the earth sees and trembles.(A)

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His lightning(A) lights up the world;
    the earth(B) sees and trembles.(C)

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Psalm 99[a]

The Holy King

I

The Lord is king, the peoples tremble;
    he is enthroned on the cherubim,[b] the earth quakes.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 99 A hymn to God as the king whose grandeur is most clearly seen on Mount Zion (Ps 99:2) and in the laws given to Israel (Ps 99:4). Israel is special because of God’s word of justice, which was mediated by the revered speakers, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel (Ps 99:6–8). The poem is structured by the threefold statement that God is holy (Ps 99:3, 5, 9) and by the twice-repeated command to praise (Ps 99:5, 9).
  2. 99:1 Enthroned on the cherubim: cherubim were composite beings with animal and human features, common in ancient Near Eastern art. Two cherubim were placed on the ark (or box) of the covenant in the holy of holies. Upon them God was believed to dwell invisibly, cf. Ex 25:20–22; 1 Sm 4:4; 2 Sm 6:2; Ps 80:2.

Psalm 99

The Lord reigns,(A)
    let the nations tremble;(B)
he sits enthroned(C) between the cherubim,(D)
    let the earth shake.

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The Great Theophany. 16 (A)On the morning of the third day there were peals of thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud blast of the shofar,[a] so that all the people in the camp trembled.

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Footnotes

  1. 19:16 Shofar: a ram’s horn used like a trumpet for signaling both for liturgical and military purposes.

16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder(A) and lightning, with a thick cloud(B) over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.(C) Everyone in the camp trembled.(D)

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[a](A)Lord, when you went out from Seir,
    when you marched from the plains of Edom,
The earth shook, the heavens poured,
    the clouds poured rain,
The mountains streamed,
    before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
    before the Lord, the God of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:4–5 The Lord himself marches to war in support of Israel. Storm and earthquake are part of the traditional imagery of theophany; cf. Ex 19:16, 18–20; Dt 33:2–3; Ps 18:7–15; 77:17–20; 144:5–7.

“When you, Lord, went out(A) from Seir,(B)
    when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook,(C) the heavens poured,
    the clouds poured down water.(D)
The mountains quaked(E) before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
    before the Lord, the God of Israel.

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