Psalms 114:7
in Psalms 114Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the God of Jacob,
KJV
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
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This verse in Psalms 114
Commentary
7 notes on this verseTremble, 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.
This site's exposition
Tremble, O earth
on Psalms 114:7-8
The presence of the LORD is the answer the psalm gives to its question, and the whole earth is told to tremble at it. Verse 8 is the water from the rock, struck at Exodus 17:6 and again at Numbers 20:11. Rock and flint became a pool and a fountain.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob" [Psalm 114:7]. What means, "at the presence of the Lord," save at the presence of Him who said, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." [Matthew 28:30] For the earth trembled; but because it had remained slothful, it was made to tremble, so that it might be more firmly fixed at the presence of the Lord.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The mercy of the miracle: What ailed thee? Was it only to amuse men? No; it was at the presence of the God of Jacob; it was in kindness to the Israel of God, for the salvation of that chosen people, that God was thus displeased against the rivers, and his wrath was against the sea, as the prophet speaks, Hab. iii.
), since it has lain under a curse for man's sin. He that made the hills and mountains to skip thus can, when he pleases, dissipate the strength and spirit of the proudest of his enemies and make them tremble.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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. 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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִלִּפְנֵ֣י | milifnei | from to before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אָ֭דוֹן | ʾadon | [the] lord | H113 → | 333 times |
| ח֣וּלִי | chuli | tremble | H2342 → | 58 times |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | O earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִ֝לִּפְנֵ֗י | milifnei | from to before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֱל֣וֹהַּ | ʾeloah | [the] God of | H433 → | 57 times |
| יַעֲקֹֽב׃ | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
מִלִּפְנֵ֣יfrom to before
milifneiH6440 →2123 times
אָ֭דוֹן[the] lord
ʾadonH113 →333 times
ח֣וּלִיtremble
chuliH2342 →58 times
אָ֑רֶץO earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
מִ֝לִּפְנֵ֗יfrom to before
milifneiH6440 →2123 times
אֱל֣וֹהַּ[the] God of
ʾeloahH433 →57 times
יַעֲקֹֽב׃Jacob
yaakoH3290 →350 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
Jeremiah 5:22Do 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…
it leads to
- Psalms 104:9
You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.
- Job 38:10–11
when I fixed its boundaries and set in place its bars and doors,
- Job 26:10
He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.
- Deuteronomy 28:58
If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—
- Proverbs 8:29
when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.
- Psalms 104:9
Through
Psalms 104:32He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smolder.
it leads to
- Psalms 144:5
Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
- Exodus 19:18
Mount 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.
- Psalms 97:4–5
His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles.
- Psalms 144:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 114; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.