Bible Strands
Nahum 1:5
The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Nahum addresses Judah and the nations during a declaration of coming judgment, describing the immediate cosmic reaction to God's rebuke of the sea and rivers.
The words — The Hebrew רָעֲשׁוּ (ra'ashu) means they quake, and הִתְמוֹגָגוּ (hitmogagu) means they melt or dissolve, describing the physical response of the landscape to divine presence.
The thread — This pattern of terrestrial instability before God appears in Micah 1:4, 2 Samuel 22:8, and Jeremiah 4:24, where mountains and earth shake in response to His manifestation.
Why it lands — The text records creation itself yielding to divine authority, requiring the reader to acknowledge that human and worldly structures cannot withstand His presence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Cross-references
- Micah 1:4 The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
- 2 Samuel 22:8 Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the heavens trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- Jeremiah 4:24 I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
- Judges 5:5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Psalms 68:8 the earth shook and the heavens poured down rain before God, the One on Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.
- Psalms 97:4 His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles.
- Isaiah 64:1 If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
- Habakkuk 3:10 The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.
- 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 29:5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.