Isaiah 24:19

Hebrew Bible

17 Terror, pit, and snare are ready to overtake you, inhabitants of the earth! 18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit; the one who climbs out of the pit will be trapped by the snare. For the floodgates of the heavens are opened up and the foundations of the earth shake. 19 The earth is broken in pieces, the earth is ripped to shreds, the earth shakes violently. 20 The earth will stagger around like a drunk; it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. Its sin will weigh it down, and it will fall and never get up again.

1 Enoch 1:5

Pseudepigrapha

4 And the eternal God will walk upon the earth, even on Mount Sinai, and appear from His camp and reveal His might from the heavens above. 5 Everyone will be struck with fear and the Watchers will tremble, and great fear and trembling will grip them to the ends of the earth. 6 The high mountains will shake, the hills will be leveled, and they will melt like wax before the fire 7 The earth will be completely torn apart, and everything on it will perish, and there will be judgment upon all people.

 Notes and References

"... These verses depict the total distortion and disintegration of the earth in the presence of the divine Judge. Verse 6 reflects a traditional element in the descriptions of the events associated with a theophany: the mountains quake, fall, and break apart. The picture is enhanced by the simile of the mountains melting like wax before the fire. This image, which suggests an erupting volcano, probably derives from Micah 1:3-4, whose motifs were temporarily abandoned after verse 4. The image appears also in Psalm 97:5; Isaiah 64:l LXX, Judith 16:15; compare Nahum 1:5. The text describes the mightiest structures on earth - the everlasting mountains and hills - disintegrating helplessly before the presence of 'the Great Holy One.' This notion is elaborated in verse 7. Not just the mountains, but the whole earth is torn apart, and everything on it is demolished. The rending of the earth recalls Micah 1:4 ('the valleys will be cleft'), but the picture of complete destruction and judgment here is more consonant with Isaiah 24:19-20, and it is likely that the present text, like Isaiah 24:17-23, envisions a judgment like the flood ..."

Nickelsburg, George W. E. A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108 (p. 146) Fortress Press, 2001

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