StrongerBible

ra'ash

רָעַשׁ

HebrewH7493“shake, quake, ...”

Appears 30 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Jdg 5:42Sa 22:8Job 39:20Psa 18:7(8)Psa 46:3(4)Psa 60:2(4)Psa 68:8(9)Psa 72:16Psa 77:18(19)Isa 13:13Isa 14:16Isa 24:18Jer 4:24Jer 8:16Jer 10:10Jer 49:21Jer 50:46Jer 51:29Ezk 26:10Ezk 26:15Ezk 27:28Ezk 31:16Ezk 38:20Jol 2:10Jol 3:16(4:16)Amo 9:1Nam 1:5Hag 2:6Hag 2:7Hag 2:21
Root family
Word studyrah-AHSHverb

What ra'ash means

to shake or quake: to move with a violent, shuddering motion, the way the ground heaves in an earthquake

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

At its heart this word pictures the ground itself lurching and heaving in an earthquake. It is the most physical, most violent kind of shaking, and from that center it reaches out to anything that can tremble that hard: mountains, the sky, city walls, coastlands, whole nations.

Its favorite setting is the moment God draws near or acts. Again and again the earth quakes at his coming, and the land and the distant shores shake at the thunder of a great power's fall. So the word carries dread and awe, not a casual jolt. The prophets reach for it to paint the Day of the LORD, when heaven and earth alike are made to reel.

The same trembling motion also appears dialed down, at the edges of the word's range: the restless, springing quiver of a war-horse eager for battle, and grain rippling in the wind like a whole forest swaying. And often God is the one who does the shaking on purpose, setting the heavens, the earth, and the nations trembling by his own hand.

Nuances

1a(of the earth, mountains, sky, and all that stands on them) to quake and tremble, especially as God draws near or as catastrophe thunders in
Jdg 5:42Sa 22:8Psa 18:7(8)Psa 46:3(4)Psa 68:8(9)Psa 77:18(19)Isa 13:13Isa 24:18Jer 4:24Jer 8:16Jer 10:10Jer 49:21
1bto make something quake: to shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the nations, or to set kingdoms trembling
Psa 60:2(4)Isa 14:16Ezk 31:16Hag 2:6Hag 2:7Hag 2:21
1cto quiver, spring, or sway: the restless leap of a war-horse and the rippling of grain like a windblown forest
Job 39:20Psa 72:16

What scholars say about ra'ash

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat רעשׁ as a single root denoting violent physical shaking, with qal intransitive "to quake, shake, sway" and hiphil causative "to cause to quake." The dominant subject is the earth and its constituents (earth, mountains, heavens, foundations), and the verb clusters heavily in theophany (Judg 5:4; Ps 68:8; 2 Sam 22:8 // Ps 18:7) and in prophetic judgment and Day-of-the-LORD oracles (Joel 2:10; 3:16; Isa 13:13; Hag 2:6-7, 21). Two well-recognized extensions carry the same trembling motion to a living or growing thing: the quivering leap of the war-horse (Job 39:20) and the rippling of grain (Ps 72:16). The cognate noun רַעַשׁ (H7494) denotes an earthquake, a quaking, or a rattling. There is no live scholarly disagreement about the verb's core sense.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. רעשׁlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. רעשׁlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. רעשׁlexicon
  • TWOT, s.v. רעשׁtheological-dictionary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of רָעַשׁ

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּרְעַשׁ

2Sa 22:8, Psa 18:7, Psa 77:18, Jer 51:29

qal perfect 3fs

רָעֲשָׁה, רָעָשָׁה

Jer 8:16, Jer 49:21, Jdg 5:4, Psa 68:8

hiphil participle m s absolute

מַרְעִישׁ

Isa 14:16, Hag 2:6, Hag 2:21

qal imperfect 3mp

יִרְעֲשׁוּ

Psa 46:3, Ezk 26:15, Ezk 27:28

qal consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְרָעֲשׁוּ

Ezk 38:20, Jol 3:16

qal perfect 3cp

רָעֲשׁוּ

Jol 2:10, Nam 1:5

hiphil consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְהִרְעַשְׁתִּי

Hag 2:7

hiphil imperfect 2ms

תַרְעִישֶׁ

Job 39:20

hiphil perfect 1cs

הִרְעַשְׁתִּי

Ezk 31:16

hiphil perfect 2ms

הִרְעַשְׁתָּה

Psa 60:2

niphal perfect 3fs

נִרְעֲשָׁה

Jer 50:46

qal conjunctive-imperfect 3fs

וְתִרְעַשׁ

Isa 13:13

qal conjunctive-imperfect 3mp

וְיִרְעֲשׁוּ

Amo 9:1

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּרְעֲשׁוּ

Isa 24:18

qal imperfect 3fp

תִּרְעַשְׁנָה

Ezk 26:10

qal imperfect 3fs

תִּרְעַשׁ

Jer 10:10

qal imperfect 3ms

יִרְעַשׁ

Psa 72:16

qal participle m p absolute

רֹעֲשִׁים

Jer 4:24