Mazmur 18:7
Konteks18:7 The earth heaved and shook; 1
the roots of the mountains 2 trembled; 3
they heaved because he was angry.
Mazmur 107:33-34
Konteks107:33 He turned 4 streams into a desert,
springs of water into arid land,
107:34 and a fruitful land into a barren place, 5
because of the sin of its inhabitants.
Mazmur 114:3-7
Konteks114:3 The sea looked and fled; 6
the Jordan River 7 turned back. 8
114:4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs. 9
114:5 Why do you flee, O sea?
Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?
114:6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
like lambs, O hills?
114:7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord –
before the God of Jacob,
[18:7] 1 sn The earth heaved and shook. The imagery pictures an earthquake in which the earth’s surface rises and falls. The earthquake motif is common in OT theophanies of God as warrior and in ancient Near Eastern literary descriptions of warring gods and kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 160-62.
[18:7] 2 tn 2 Sam 22:8 has “heavens” which forms a merism with “earth” in the preceding line. The “foundations of the heavens” would be the mountains. However, the reading “foundations of the mountains” has a parallel in Deut 32:22.
[18:7] 3 tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the three prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive in the verse.
[107:33] 4 tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. (The use of prefixed forms with vav [ו] consecutive in vv. 36-37 favor this.) The psalmist may return to the theme of God’s intervention for the exiles (see vv. 4-22, especially vv. 4-9). However, many regard vv. 33-41 as a hymnic description which generalizes about God’s activities among men. In this case it would be preferable to use the English present tense throughout (cf. NEB, NRSV).
[107:34] 5 tn Heb “a salty land.”
[114:3] 6 sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).
[114:3] 7 tn Heb “the Jordan” (also in v. 5). The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[114:3] 8 sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).
[114:4] 9 sn The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. This may recall the theophany at Sinai when the mountain shook before God’s presence (Exod 19:18).
