Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Psalms 114:5
Verse Psalms 114:5. What ailed thee, O thou sea] The original is very abrupt; and the prosopopoeia, or personification very fine and expressive: -
What to thee, O sea, that thou fleddest away!
O Jordan, that thou didst roll back!
Ye mountains, that ye leaped like rams!
And ye hills, like the young of the fold!
After these very sublime interrogations, God appears; and the psalmist proceeds as if answering his own questions: -
At the appearance of the Lord, O earth, thou
didst tremble;
At the appearance of the strong God of Jacob.
Converting the rock into a pool of waters;
The granite into water springs.
I know the present Hebrew text reads חולי chuli, "tremble thou," in the imperative; but almost all the Versions understood the word in past tense, and read as if the psalmist was answering his own questions, as stated in the translation above. "Tremble thou, O earth." As if he had said, Thou mayest well tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.