Psalms 18 · Verse 7

Psalms 18:7

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
Psalms 18:7, King James Version

Psalms 18:7 in other translations

BSBThen the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
WEBThen the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
ASVThen the earth shook and trembled; The foundations also of the mountains quaked And were shaken, because he was wroth.
YLTAnd shake and tremble doth the earth, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake--because He hath wrath.
DARBYThen the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook, because he was wroth.
BBEThen trouble and shock came on the earth; and the bases of the mountains were moved and shaking, because he was angry.
WebsterThen the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

What does Psalms 18:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:7-8
7-8. God's coming described in figures drawn from His appearance on Sinai (compare De 32:22).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 7 Then the earth shook and trembled - "In this and the following verses David describes, by the sublimest expressions and grandest terms, the majesty of God, and the awful manner in which he came to his assistance. The representation of the storm in these verses must be allowed by all skillful and impartial judges to be truly sublime and noble, and in the genuine spirit of poetry. The majesty of God, and the manner in which he is represented as coming to the aid of his favourite king, surrounded with all the powers of nature as his attendants and ministers, and arming (as it were) heaven and earth to fight his battles, and execute his vengeance, is described in the loftiest and most striking terms. The shaking of the earth; the trembling of the mountains and pillars of heaven; the smoke that drove out of his nostrils; the flames of devouring fire that flashed from his mouth; the heavens bending down to convey him to the battle; his riding upon a cherub, and rapidly flying on the wings of a whirlwind; his concealing his majesty in the thick clouds of heaven; the bursting of the lightnings from the horrid darkness; the uttering of his voice in peals of thunder; the storm of fiery hail; the melting of the heavens, and their dissolving into floods of tempestuous rain; the cleaving of the earth, and disclosing of the bottom of the hills, and the subterraneous channels or torrents of water, by the very breath of the nostrils of the Almighty; are all of them circumstances which create admiration, excite a kind of horror, and exceed every thing of this nature that is to be found in any of the remains of heathen antiquity. See Longinus on the Sublime, sec. 9, and Hesiod's description of Jupiter fighting against the Titans, which is one of the grandest things in all pagan antiquity; though upon comparison it will be found infinitely short of this description of the psalmist's; throughout the whole of which God is represented as a mighty warrior going forth to fight the battles of David, and highly incensed at the opposition his enemies made to his power and authority. "When he descended to the engagement the very heavens bowed down to render his descent more awful, his military tent was substantial darkness; the voice of his thunder was the warlike alarm which sounded to the battle; the chariot in which he rode was the thick clouds of heaven, conducted by cherubs, and carried on by the irresistible force and rapid wings of an impetuous tempest; and the darts and weapons he employed were thunderbolts, lightnings, fiery hail, deluging rains, and stormy winds! "No wonder that when God thus arose, all his enemies should be scattered, and those who hated him should flee before him. "It does not appear from any part of David's history that there was any such storm as is here described, which proved destructive to his enemies, and salutary to himself. There might, indeed, have been such a one, though there is no particular mention of it: unless it may be thought that something of this nature is intimated in the account given of David's second battle with the Philistines, 2Sam 5:23, 2Sam 5:24. It is undoubted, however, that the storm is represented as real; though David, in describing it, has heightened and embellished it with all the ornaments of poetry. See Chandler, Delaney, and Lowth's ninth Prelection.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 18:1-19

The first words, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength," are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that truly love God, may triumph in him as their Rock and Refuge, and may with confidence call upon him. It is good for us to observe all the circumstances of a mercy which magnify the power of God and his goodness to us in it. David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God. If we pray as he did…

Read the full comment on Psalms 18:1-19 →

Psalms 18:7 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַתִּגְעַ֬שׁva.tig.'Ashand it shookH1607
וַתִּרְעַ֨שׁ\׀va.tir.'Ashand it quakedH7493
הָאָ֗רֶץha.'A.retzthe earthH776
וּמוֹסְדֵ֣יu.mos.Deiand [the] foundations ofH4144
הָרִ֣יםha.Rim[the] mountainsH2022
יִרְגָּ֑זוּyir.Ga.zuthey trembledH7264
וַ֝יִּתְגָּֽעֲשׁ֗וּvai.yit.ga.'a.Shuand they shook back and forthH1607
כִּי\־ki-forH3588
חָ֥רָהCha.rahit burnedH2734
לֽוֹ\׃loto him

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 18:7

  • Acts 4:31

    And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

  • Psalms 68:7-8

    O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

  • Ezekiel 38:19-20

    For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

  • Jeremiah 4:24

    I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

  • Acts 16:25-26

    And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

  • Judges 5:4

    Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.

  • Deuteronomy 32:22

    For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

  • Zechariah 14:4

    And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

  • Habakkuk 3:10

    The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

  • Matthew 28:2

    And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

  • Habakkuk 3:6

    He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

  • Psalms 114:4-7

    The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
earth.
114:4-7; Mt 28:2; Ac 4:31; 16:25,26
foundations.
46:2; De 32:22; Jer 4:24; Eze 38:19,20; Hab 3:6,10; Zec 14:4
1Co 13:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 18:6

    In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

  • Psalms 18:7

    Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

  • Psalms 18:8

    There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

Read all of Psalms 18

Psalms 18:7 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y la tierra fué conmovida y tembló; y moviéronse los fundamentos de los montes, y se estremecieron, porque se indignó él.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Dans ma détresse j’ai invoqué l’ Éternel, et j’ai crié à mon Dieu: de son temple, il a entendu ma voix, et mon cri est parvenu devant lui à ses oreilles.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Da wankte und bebte die Erde, und die Grundfesten der Berge erzitterten und wankten, weil er entbrannt war.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
a summo cælo egressio ejus. Et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus; nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus.