A shaking or trembling of the earth’s surface, fairly frequent in geologically active Syro-Palestine. Specific earthquakes within the biblical period include one in 31 BCE reported by the Jewish historian Josephus and one in Uzziah’s days (ca. 760 BCE) cited in (Amos 1:1) and remembered in (Zech 14:5). Earthquakes might also be related to the swallowing up of Dathan and Abiram in (Num 16:30-34), to Elijah’s experiences at Sinai (1Kgs 19:11-12), to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24-29), to the holy war panic among the Philistines (1Sam 14:15), and to the divine theophany in ()Exod 19:18). Almost every time an earthquake appears in the Bible, it has figurative dimensions of God’s intervention; note especially the earthquakes at Jesus’s death (Matt 27:51) and his resurrection (Matt 28:2). It was readily projected, then, as attending the judgment at the final days (Isa 29:6; Matt 24:7; Rev 6:12-17).
