2 Samuel 22:8

8. shook and trembled] The paronomasia of the original may be preserved by translating, and the earth did shake and quake.

the foundations of heaven] The mountains on which the vault of heaven seems to rest: cp. “the pillars of heaven” (Job_26:11): or perhaps the universe is regarded as a vast building, without any precise application of the details of the metaphor. See note on 1Sa_2:8. For heaven Psa_18:7 reads “the mountains.”

8–16. The manifestation of Jehovah for the discomfiture of David’s enemies

Earthquake and storm are regarded as the visible manifestations of Divine Power: and therefore God’s interposition for the deliverance of His servant from the perils that surrounded him is described as accompanied by terrible phenomena in nature. We have here an ideal description of a Theophany, based on the description of the Theophany at Sinai. See Exo_19:16-18; and cp. Psa_68:8; Psa_77:16-18; Jdg_5:4-5. It is not indeed impossible that David refers to some occasion when his enemies were scattered by the breaking of a terrible storm (cp. Jos_10:11; 1Sa_7:10): but we have no record of such an event having actually happened in his life; and in any case the picture is designed to serve as a description of God’s intervention for his deliverance in general, and not upon any single occasion. His power was exerted as really and truly as if all these extraordinary natural phenomena had visibly attested His Advent.

The earthquake (2Sa_22:8); the distant lightnings (2Sa_22:9); the gathering darkness of the storm (2Sa_22:10-12); the final outburst of its fury (2Sa_22:13-16); are pictured in regular succession.

Psalms 29 may be compared as illustrating David’s sense of the grandeur and significance of natural phenomena.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22:8-20 David vividly expands on how God heard him (22:7). David describes God’s rescue as a theophany (manifestation of God’s presence; see study notes on Exod 19:16-25; Deut 1:33) that recalls God’s manifestation at Sinai (Exod 19:16-20; cp. Judg 5:4-5).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(8) Of heaven.—Psalms 18, “of the hills.” The thought is the same, but the strong poetic figure by which the mountains are spoken of as “the pillars of heaven” (comp. Job_26:11) is softened in the psalm.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. See Gill on Psa 18:12.

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2 Samuel 22:14

sa2 22:14

sa2 22:14

sa2 22:14The Lord thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. See Gill on Psa 18:13.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8. Quakes and shakes — There is a similar play upon the words in the Hebrew — gaash and raash. From this verse on to 2Sa_22:17, the poet pictures his deliverance by the imagery of a sublime theophany drawn from the history of the scene at Sinai. Compare Exo_19:16-21. So overwhelming was David’s subjective view of the magnitude and grandeur of his deliverance from all his foes, that in his gratitude and glory he finds no ordinary language adequate to express his emotions of triumphant joy. We are not to understand that this sublime theophany was a literal historical fact in David’s life, but rather a highly-wrought poetical picture of his many and great deliverances as they were apprehended by his soul at a moment of great spiritual exultation.

Foundations of the heavens — A stronger expression than foundation of the hills, used in the corresponding passage in Psalms 18. The ideal pillars which support the skies are supposed to move and quake when God comes down in anger to smite David’s wicked enemies.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 8-10.

And the earth quaked and trembled; The foundations of the heavens shook, And quaked because he was wroth. A smoke went up in his nostril,

And fire out of his mouth devoured; Red hot cinders burned from him. And he bowed the heavens and came down, And darkness was under his feet.

In describing the manifestation of God for his deliverance, David bore in mind and repeated the description of God"s descent to earth given in Exo_19:16, Exo_19:18. But the poetic vigour of David"s imagination intensities the imagery, and makes it more grand and startling. Not merely is there the earthquake and the volcano and the storm cloud, but the dim form of the Almighty is present, with the smoke of just anger at unrighteousness ascending from his nostrils, and the lightnings flashing forth to execute his wrath. But David certainly intended that these metaphors should remain ideal; and it was quite unnecessary for the Targum carefully to eliminate all such expressions as seem to give the Almighty bureau shape. In so doing it merely changes poetry into prose. But even more dull and commonplace is the explanation given by some modern commentators, that all that is meant is that David was once saved by a thunderstorm from some danger or other. Really this glorious imagery, taken from all that is grandest on earth, is intended to magnify to us the spiritual conception of God"s justice coming forth to visit the earth and do right and equity. In ver. 8 for "the foundations of the heavens," we find in Psa_18:7 "the foundations of the hills." The former is the grander metaphor, and signifies the mighty mountain ranges, like those of Lebanon, on which the skies seem to rest. The smoke signifies hailstorms and, perhaps, also the rain driven in wreaths along the ground by the wind. Red hot cinders burned from him describes the flashing lightnings that were shot forth like the coals from the refiner"s furnace when heated to the full. It is to be regretted that the Revised Version retains the bathos of the old rendering, that God"s fiery breath set coals on fire.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8 Then the earth swayed and trembled,

The foundations of the heavens shook

And swayed to and fro, because He was wroth.

9 Smoke ascended in His nose,

And fire out of His mouth devoured,

Red-hot coals burned out of Him.

10 And He bowed the heavens and came down,

And cloudy darkness under His feet.

Jehovah came down from heaven to save His servant, as He had formerly come down upon Sinai to conclude His covenant with Israel in the midst of terrible natural phenomena, which proclaimed the wrath of the Almighty. The theophany under which David depicts the deliverance he had experienced, had its type in the miraculous phenomenon which accompanied the descent of God upon Sinai, and which suggested, as in the song of Deborah (Jdg 5:4-5), the idea of a terrible storm. It is true that the deliverance of David was not actually attended by any such extraordinary natural phenomena; but the saving hand of God from heaven was so obviously manifested, that the deliverance experienced by him could be poetically described as a miraculous interposition on the part of God. When the Lord rises up from His heavenly temple to come down upon the earth to judgment, the whole world trembles at the fierceness of His wrath. Not only does the earth tremble, but the foundations of the heavens shake: the whole universe is moved. In the psalm we have "the foundations of the hills" instead of "the foundations of the heavens," - a weaker expression, signifying the earth to its deepest foundations. The Hithpael יתגּעשׁ, lit., to sway itself, expresses the idea of continuous swaying to and fro. לו חרה כּי, "for it (sc., wrath) burned to him," it flamed up like a fire; cf. Deu 32:22; Deu 29:19. "Smoke," the forerunner of fire, "ascended in His nose." The figurative idea is that of snorting or violent breathing, which indicates the rising of wrath. Smoke is followed by fire, which devours out of the mouth, i.e., bursts forth devouring or consuming all that opposes it. The expression is strengthened still further by the parallel: "red-hot coals come out of Him," i.e., the flame of red-hot coals pours out of Him as out of a glowing furnace (cf. Gen 15:17). This description is based entirely upon Exo 19:18, where the Lord comes down upon Sinai in smoke and fire. We are not to picture to ourselves flashes of lightning; for all these phenomena are merely the forerunners of the appearance of God in the clouds, which is described in Sa2 22:10, "He bowed the heavens" to come down. ערפל, which is frequently connected with ענן, signifies cloudy darkness, or dark clouds. The substratum of this description is the fact that in a severe storm the heavens seem to sink down upon the earth with their dark clouds. The Lord draws near riding upon black thunder-clouds, "that the wicked may not behold His serene countenance, but only the terrible signs of His fierce wrath and punishment" (J. H. Michaelis).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

General Information:

David's song to Yahweh continues. He uses parallelism to emphasize what he is saying. (See: Parallelism)

Then the earth shook ... were ignited by it

This is Yahweh's response to David's cry for help from his enemies. David uses the imagery of the earth shaking and fire coming from Yahweh to emphasize Yahweh's terrible anger. (See: Metaphor)

earth shook ... heavens trembled

David speaks of the two extremes to include everything in creation. (See: Merism)

and were shaken, because God was angry

This can be stated in active form. AT: "because God's anger shook them" (See: Active or Passive)

his nostrils ... his mouth

David speaks of Yahweh as if he had these humans parts. (See: Personification)

Coals were ignited by it

Here Yahweh's anger is compared to fire, which causes coals to ignite and burn. AT: "The flame from his mouth set coals on fire" or "He also sent burning coals from his mouth" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

earth

found

heaven

anger

fire

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Shook and shuddered. This is not referring to the miracles that happened to him but to the miracles that happened to Yisroel and the beginning of the verse is connected to the end.

When God became angry. The word כי is being used here to mean "when," and this is its interpretation, when God became angry on account of his antagonists the world shook and shuddered and the pillars of heaven trembled and shook.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.