Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 22:8
Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
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.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. [See comments on Ps 18:7].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 , lit., to sway itself, expresses the idea of continuous swaying to and fro. , “ 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 2Sa 22:10, “He bowed the heavens” to come down. , which is frequently connected with , 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).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
God’s Deliverance of David, vs. 8-21
David portrays his deliverance by the power of God in pictures nothing short of astounding. They remind one of his own words in Psa 8:4 (cf. Heb 2:6-8). Here is Almighty God, supreme over all things, condescending to intercede in the deliverance of a lone man, and to move the very forces of heaven and earth in His righteous wrath, for this single creature. The wrath of God against those who would harm His children is terrible (Eph 5:6).
For David’s deliverance the Lord shook the earth and the foundations of heaven. His anger was as smoke from His nostrils and fire from His mouth, kindling coals against the tormentors of His child. While these things are not necessarily literal in the physical sense, they are in the spiritual sense. Earth’s very course has been altered by the Lord to benefit His people, and spiritual fires have destroyed the wicked who oppose Him. The song has the heavens bursting open as the Lord comes to the darkness of the earth, riding upon a cherub (or on angel wings). It is a preview of the end time (cf. 2Th 1:6-9).
The Lord uses the elements to rescue His people who call on Him. The wind blew, the sky was darkened, the lightning flashed forth its arrows, and the voice of God was heard in the thunder. Then the rain poured itself forth like the channels of the sea, washing away hills and mountains, discovering the earth’s foundations in His great tempest. With his own great power the Lord overcame the sea of trouble surrounding David and drew him out. His enemies had stood in David’s way attempting to destroy him, but the Lord saved him from impending calamity. He was David’s stay, who brought him forth and set him in a large place because of His delight in him. David says the Lord rewarded him according to his righteousness. It was imputed righteousness given him when his hands were cleansed by his trust in the reliance on the Lord, not by any goodness David could claim (Psa 40:1-4; 1Jn 1:7).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The. Some codices, with Septuagint and Syriac, read “and the”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the earth: Jdg 5:4, Psa 18:7, Psa 77:18, Psa 97:4, Hab 3:6-11, Mat 27:51, Mat 28:2, Act 4:31
foundations: Job 26:11, Nah 1:5
Reciprocal: 2Sa 23:7 – and they shall Psa 60:2 – made Mic 6:2 – foundations Zec 10:5 – as