Bible Strands
Psalms 104:32
He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smolder.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks as a worshiper concluding a hymn that traces God’s creative and sustaining power over the natural world. The verse sits between a declaration that the Lord rejoices in His works and a personal vow to sing praise all his life.
The words — The Hebrew verb יִגַּ֖ע (yi.Ga') means "he touches," paired with וְֽ/יֶעֱשָֽׁנוּ (Ve./ye.'e.Sha.nu), which literally renders "they may smoke" or "they smolder." These terms describe a direct contact that produces an immediate geological response.
The thread — This motif of divine contact causing mountains to smoke appears in Psalms 144:5, which petitions God to touch the mountains until they smoke. The imagery parallels Exodus 19:18, where God’s fiery descent envelops Mount Sinai in smoke, and aligns with Psalms 97:4, where the earth trembles at His lightning.
Why it lands — The text presents God’s mere gaze and touch as sufficient to trigger immediate, violent reactions in the earth. It demands recognition that creation responds instantly to divine presence without requiring human mediation or ritual.
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
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
Cross-references
- 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 His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles.
- 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.
- Psalms 114:7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
- Psalms 50:3 Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
- Psalms 77:16 The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and swirled; even the depths were shaken.
- Isaiah 64:1 If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
- Jeremiah 4:23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
- 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 surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.