The fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence: When the earthquake happens, every living creature, including people, will be terrified. Fish of the sea is the common Hebrew expression for all fish, including freshwater fish. Similarly, birds of the air is the common expression for all birds (see the comments on 29.5), those that normally fly and domestic birds like chickens that normally do not fly. The Hebrew expression for beasts of the field often refers to wild animals (see, for example, where it is rendered “wild beasts”), but here it refers to all kinds of four-footed animals. Creeping things that creep on the ground refers to reptiles, small animals such as rats and mice, and crawling insects (see the comments on 8.10). Translators who lack a general term for these creatures may call them “small animals” to distinguish them from the beasts of the field, which are “big animals.” All the men that are upon the face of the earth refers to every living person. Good News Translation says “every human being on the face of the earth.” If the expression “all people” adequately reflects the Hebrew here, translators do not need to specify that they are upon the face of the earth (so New Living Translation [1996]). The Hebrew verb rendered quake comes from the same root as the word for “earthquake” (Good News Translation) in verse 19. While the ground is shaking, all the living creatures will shake in fear. Many translations make the fear explicit by rendering quake as “shake with fear” (New Century Version) or “tremble in fear” (Contemporary English Version). At my presence makes it clear the fear will not be due simply to the terrifying effects of the earthquake. God implies that he will cause the earthquake, so the fear will also be due to the feeling that God is physically present in the land. The earthquake will produce more dramatic results as well.

And the mountains shall be thrown down: Normally the Hebrew verb rendered thrown down refers to someone breaking down something they have made (for example, a wall or a house; see 13.14). Since no one but God has made the mountains, this clause pictures them being broken apart by the earthquake and falling down. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “The mountains break apart.”

And the cliffs shall fall: Cliffs are the steep sides of mountains and hills. This clause pictures those steep places breaking off from the mountainsides and crashing down in huge landslides.

And every wall shall tumble to the ground: The same thing that happens to natural phenomena such as mountains and cliffs will happen also to things that people have built. Tumble renders the same Hebrew word translated fall.

The English translations tend to look for different words to render the verbs in the last half of this verse. Some of the words used in the different translations are “fall,” “crumble,” “collapse,” “thrown down,” “crash,” “tumble,” “come crashing down,” “break into pieces,” “overthrown,” and “topple.” They do this for the sake of variety. Translators need to be sensitive to what is natural in their own languages to choose appropriate words. Depending on the language, it may be acceptable to use the same word throughout, or to choose different ones, as long as the meaning is clear.

A model for this verse is:

• All the fish and all the birds, and all the animals both large and small, and every person on earth will shake from fear because they are in my presence. The mountains will break apart, the cliffs on the mountains will crash down, and all the walls will collapse.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .