Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Earthquake
Subjects in this Topic:
EARTHQUAKE.—The whole formation of the country running in a straight line from the Taurus range to the gulf of Akabah, which therefore includes Central Judæa, reveals a volcanic character of a striking kind. That this large tract was, in days gone by, the scene of frequent and terrible earthquakes, admits of no doubt. Apart from the actual occurrences of earthquakes recorded in the Bible and elsewhere (e.g. at the time of the battle of Actium, in the seventh year of the reign of Herod the Great, Jos. [Note: Josephus.] Ant. XV. v. 2), the often-used imagery of the earthquake bears eloquent testimony to a fearful experience.
It is necessary to distinguish between actual earthquakes and those which belong to the descriptive accounts of theophanies or Divine manifestations of wrath, etc. Of the former only one is mentioned in the OT, that which occurred in the reign of Uzziah (Amo_1:1, Zec_14:5); among the latter must be included such references as Exo_19:18, 1Ki_19:11, Num_16:31, Psa_18:7; Psa_68:8; Psa_77:18; Psa_104:4, Isa_29:6 etc. In the NT it is recorded that an earthquake occurred at the Crucifixion (Mat_27:51; Mat_27:54), at the Resurrection (Mat_28:2), and on the night of St. Paul’s imprisonment in Philippi (Act_16:26); further, it is foretold that there shall be earthquakes at Christ’s second coming (Mat_24:7, Mar_13:8, Luk_21:11); their mention in Rev. Is characteristic of apocalyptic literature.
W. O. E. Oesterley.