Psalms 60:2

You made the earth quake; you split it open. ¹  Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall. ² 

2Sa 2:8-32; 2Sa 3:11-14; 2Sa 22:8; 2Ch 7:14; Job 5:18; Job 9:6; Ps 89:40; Ps 104:32; Ps 114:7; Isa 5:25; Isa 7:8; Isa 30:26; Jer 4:24; Jer 10:10; Jer 14:17; Jer 30:17; Jer 48:38; La 2:13; Eze 34:16; Ho 6:1; Am 8:8; Hab 3:10; Hag 2:6,7; Mt 27:51

¹ tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.

sn You made the earth quake; you split it open. The psalmist uses the imagery of an earthquake to describe the nation’s defeat.

² sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.