Isaiah 64:1

(63:19b) ¹  If only you would tear apart the sky ²  and come down! The mountains would tremble ³  before you!

Ex 3:8; Ex 19:11,18,19; Jud 5:4,5; Ps 18:7-15; Ps 46:6; Ps 68:8; Ps 114:4-7; Ps 144:5,6; Isa 63:15; Am 9:5,13; Mic 1:3,4; Na 1:5,6; Hab 3:1-13; Mr 1:10; 2Pe 3:10-12; Re 20:11

¹ sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

² tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

³ tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.