Psalms 104:32
in Psalms 104He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smolder.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; He toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.
KJV
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
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This verse in Psalms 104
Commentary
15 notes on this verseHe looketh on the earth, and it trembleth. The Lord who has graciously displayed his power in acts and works of goodness might, if he had seen fit, have overwhelmed us with the terrors of destruction, for even at a glance of his eye the solid earth rocks with fear. He toucheth the hills, and they smoke. Sinai was altogether on a smoke when the Lord descended upon it. It was but a touch, but it sufficed to make the mountain dissolve in flame. Even our God is a consuming fire.
This site's exposition
the glory of the LORD endure forever
on Psalms 104:31-32
The prayer is for a glory that endures, and for the LORD's own pleasure in what He made. Verse 32 gives the weight behind it: a look makes the earth tremble and a touch sets the mountains smoking. The same earth He waters He can also shake.
This site's exposition
He touches the mountains
Sinai smoked, and the whole mountain was made to tremble when the LORD came down on it at Exodus 19:18. Psalm 144:5 asks Him to touch the mountains so they smolder. The glory of verse 31 carries this weight.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Who looks on the earth, and makes it tremble; who touches the hills, and they shall smoke" [Psalm 104:32]. O earth, you were exulting in your good, to yourself you ascribed your fullness and opulence; behold, the Lord looks on you, and causes you to tremble. May He look on you, and make you tremble: for the trembling of humility is better than the confidence of pride....For it is God, he says, which works in you. For this reason then with trembling, because God works in you. Because He gave, because what you have comes not from you, you shall work with fear and trembling, for if you fear not Him, He will take away what He gave. Work, therefore, with trembling. Hear another Psalm: "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling." If we must rejoice with trembling, God beholds us, there comes an earthquake; when God looks upon us, let our hearts tremble; then will God rest there. Hear Him in another passage: "Upon whom shall My Spirit rest? Even on him that is lowly and quiet, and who trembles at My Word." [Isaiah 66:2] "Who looks on the earth, and makes it tremble; who touches the hills, and they shall smoke" [Psalm 104:32]. The hills were proud, and boastful of themselves, God had not touched them: He touches them, and they shall smoke. What means the smoking of the hills? That they pray unto the Lord. Behold great hills, proud hills, vast hills, prayed not to God: they wished themselves to be entreated, and entreated not Him who was above them. For what powerful, arrogant, proud man is there upon the earth, who deigns humbly to entreat God? I speak of the ungodly, not of the "cedars of Libanus, which the Lord has planted." Every ungodly man, unhappy soul, knows not how to entreat God, while he wishes himself to be entreated by men. […]
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 2 -- On Faith · Written before 523.
proposed
And the Prophet said, "He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers;" and again, "He looketh on the earth and it trembleth; He rebuketh the mountains, and they smoke." And again the prophet Isaiah saith, "All the nations are …
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God · Written before 523.
proposed
"He looketh upon the earth, and it trembleth, He rebuketh the mountains, and they smoke." And again [the Book] saith, "At Thy rebuke they flee, and at the voice of Thy thunders they are afraid." And behold, according to the word of the Prophet, the …
Who looks upon the earth, and makes it tremble. For our earth shall tremble on the day of judgment. And it signifies the earthly sinners. Who touches the mountains, and they smoke. If the mountains smoke, how much more the earth? The saints smoke, since we shall all be saved through fire. For it would not have smoke, unless there were fire.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
On that verse of the Psalm: "He who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble," the Gloss says: "Then God looks upon the earth and makes it tremble, when he illumines the earthly man by the regard of his grace and converts him to …
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): He looks on the earth, and it trembles, as unable to bear his frowns--trembles, as Sinai did, at the presence of the Lord. He touches the hills, and they smoke. The volcanoes, or burning mountains, such as Ætna, are emblems of the power of God's wrath fastening upon proud unhumbled sinners.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
He looketh - This is a farther illustration of God's powerful providence: as when he affords his favour to creatures, they live and thrive, so on the contrary, one angry look or touch of his upon the hills or earth, makes them tremble and smoke, as Sinai did when God appeared in it.
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth,.... As Sinai did when he descended on it, Psa 68:8, to which the allusion seems to be; and a look from him, a severe one, a frowning one, will make the inhabitants of the earth to tremble; a providential look, sending famine, pestilence or the sword among them.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
While God could equally glorify His power in destruction, that He does it in preservation is of His rich goodness and mercy, so that we may well spend our lives in grateful praise, honoring to Him, and delightful to pious hearts (Ps 147:1).
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth. The Lord who has graciously displayed his power in acts and works of goodness might, if he had seen fit, have overwhelmed us with the terrors of destruction, for even at a glance of his eye the solid earth rocks with fear. He toucheth the hills, and they smoke. Sinai was altogether on a smoke when the Lord descended upon it. It was but a touch, but it sufficed to make the mountain dissolve in flame. Even our God is a consuming fire. Woe unto those who shall provoke him to frown upon them, they shall perish at the touch of his hand. If sinners were not altogether insensible a glance of the Lord's eye would make them tremble, and the touches of his hand in affliction would set their hearts on fire with repentance. "Of reason all things show some sign, " except man's unfeeling heart.
He looketh on the earth - Even the look of God terrifies all created nature! He toucheth the hills - So easy is it for God to burn up the earth and the worlds thereof, that even his touch kindles the mountains into flames! See Etna, Vesuvius, Stromboli, etc.; these are ignited by the touch of God. How majestic are these figures! The renewal of the earth, and re-creation of deceased animals, shall take place when he shall shake terribly the heavens and the earth; when they shall be wrapped together as a scroll, and the earth and its works be dissolved, that is, after the general convulsion and conflagration of the world.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth - There is great sublimity in this expression, as indicating the power and the majesty of God. He has only to “look” upon his works, and they stand in awe and tremble. The most mighty and fearful convulsions of nature occur as if they were the mere effect of God’s “looking” on the earth. Compare Hab 3:10 - “The mountains saw thee, and they trembled.” He toucheth the hills, and they smoke - That is, as Mount Sinai did when God came down upon it. Exo 19:18. It is as if the hills were conscious of his presence, and were awed.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַמַּבִּ֣יט | hamabit | the [one who] looks | H5027 → | 69 times |
| לָ֭אָרֶץ | laaretz | to the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וַתִּרְעָ֑ד | vatirad | and it trembled | H7460 → | |
| יִגַּ֖ע | yiga' | he touches | H5060 → | 150 times |
| בֶּהָרִ֣ים | beharim | <in> the mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וְֽיֶעֱשָֽׁנוּ׃ | veyeeshanu | so they may smoke | H6225 → | 6 times |
הַמַּבִּ֣יטthe [one who] looks
hamabitH5027 →69 times
לָ֭אָרֶץto the earth
laaretzH776 →2504 times
וַתִּרְעָ֑דand it trembled
vatiradH7460 →
יִגַּ֖עhe touches
yiga'H5060 →150 times
בֶּהָרִ֣ים<in> the mountains
beharimH2022 →546 times
וְֽיֶעֱשָֽׁנוּ׃so they may smoke
veyeeshanuH6225 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 114:7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:22
Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves…
- Isaiah 64:1–3
If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
- Job 26:11
The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke.
- Psalms 97:4–5
His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles.
- Micah 6:1–2
Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
- Jeremiah 5:22
Through
Exodus 19:18Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.
it leads to
- Judges 5:5
The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Psalms 144:5
Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
- Judges 5:5
Through
Psalms 144:5Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:9
He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
- Psalms 18:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 104; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 30, on Psalm 103; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 2 -- On Faith and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God.