Psalms

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Psalm 97

1 The Lord reigns. Let the earth be happy. Let the many coastlands rejoice. 2 Dark clouds surround him; equity and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him; on every side it burns up his enemies. 4 His lightning bolts light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,⁠ before the Lord of the whole earth. 6 The sky declares his justice, and all the nations see his splendor. 7 All who worship idols are ashamed, those who boast about worthless idols. All the gods bow down before him.⁠ 8 Zion hears and rejoices, the towns of Judah are happy, because of your judgments, O Lord. 9 For you, O Lord, are the Most High over the whole earth; you are elevated high above all gods. 10 You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his faithful followers; he delivers them from the power of the wicked. 11 The godly bask in the light; the morally upright experience joy. 12 You godly ones, rejoice in the Lord. Give thanks to his holy name.

Texts in conversation

Compare Micah 1:4 and Psalm 97:5

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Micah depicts mountains melting like wax during a divine visitation, an image also found in Psalm 97. Both passages use the dissolution of what appears permanent to portray judgment, presenting natural upheaval as a sign of overwhelming power.

Passages

Micah 1:4

Hebrew Bible

2 Listen, all you nations! Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth! The Sovereign Lord will act as a witness against you; the Lord will accuse you from his majestic palace. 3 Look, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place! He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops! 4 The mountains will crumble beneath him, and the valleys will split apart like wax before a fire, like water dumped down a steep slope. 5 All this is because of Jacob’s rebellion and the sins of the nation of Israel. And just what is Jacob’s rebellion? Isn’t it Samaria’s doings? And what is Judah’s sin? Isn’t it Jerusalem’s doings? 6 “I will turn Samaria into a heap of ruins in an open field, into a place for planting vineyards. I will dump the rubble of her walls down into the valley and lay bare her foundations.

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Micah

Psalm 97:5

Hebrew Bible

3 Fire goes before him; on every side it burns up his enemies. 4 His lightning bolts light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of the whole earth. 6 The sky declares his justice, and all the nations see his splendor. 7 All who worship idols are ashamed, those who boast about worthless idols. All the gods bow down before him.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... The allusion in [1 Enoch] chapter 52 to the mountains of metal in the west that serve the authority of God’s messiah (verse 4) and will melt like wax before the Chosen One (verse 6) seems to have been influenced by the tradition of the seven mountains of precious stones in the northwest (18:6–9a; 24:1–3; 25:1–3), the middle one of which is the throne on which God will sit when he comes to visit the earth. However, this tradition has been transformed by its association with the tradition, familiar from theophanic passages, of the melting of the mountains at the coming of God (Micah 1:4; Psalm 97:5; compare Nahum 1:5; Judges 5:4). It has further been transformed by its combination with the theme of the metals, which are no doubt to be seen, as in Daniel 2:31–45, as representative of a succession of world empires. Verse 7–9, which are introduced by “And it will come to pass in those days” and draw in verse 7 on Zephaniah 1:18, offer additional comment on the metals and may be secondary ..."

Michael A. Knibb, Essays on the Book of Enoch and Other Early Jewish Texts and Traditions, SVTP 22 (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 133.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Micah 1:4 and Psalm 97:5

Summary

Passages

Micah 1:4

Psalm 97:5

References

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