Bible Dictionary Definitions

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Verse You Selected: 

Translation Verse         Text
King James 1Ki 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

Summary Of Definitions Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All
Word American Tract Society - Definition
EARTHQUAKE A convulsion of the earth common in volcanic regions, and well known in all parts of the world; probably occasioned by the action of internal heat or fire. Scripture speaks of several earthquakes, Nu 16:1-50 1Ki 19:11,12. One occurred in the twenty-seventh year of Uzziah king of Judah, and is mentioned in Am 1:1 Zec 14:5. A very memorable earthquake was that at our Savior's death, Mt 27:51, which some suppose extended throughout the world. Palestine has been often visited by earthquakes. So late as 1837 one occurred in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee, by which about a third part of Tiberias was destroyed, and thousands of people perished there and in the towns near by. Earthquakes were among the calamities foretold as connected with the destruction of Jerusalem, Mt 24:7; and history proves the truth of the prediction.

The word earthquake is also used figuratively to denote God's power and wrath, as in Ps 18:7 46:2 104:32, etc.; and as an emblem of a great civil or national catastrophe, Mt 24:7,29 Re 16:18,19.
Top