G4579
σείω
to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern)
Transliteration
seíōPronunciation
(si'-o)Everything you need to know.
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to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern)
σείω(seíō)
Strong’s Definition
to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern)
apparently a primary verb;
“And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?”
No verses found containing this word study ID.
The Shaking That Precedes the Kingdom
Five times this sacred verb appears in the New Testament, yet each occurrence trembles with the weight of divine intervention. The Greek seíō, meaning to rock, vibrate, or agitate, first appears in the Gospel of Matthew at the hour of the cross. When the earth itself began to move beneath the feet of those who watched the Messiah die, the verb seíō carried the grief of creation mourning its Creator. This is no ordinary motion — it is the shuddering of a world undone and remade in the same moment.
The Grammar of Trembling
The aorist passive form of seíō appears in the resurrection account of Matthew 28:4, where the guards at the tomb were shaken and became like dead men. The passive voice here reveals something profound: they did not choose to tremble; they were acted upon by a power beyond all human resistance. The perfect tense appears in Hebrews 12:26, where the promise declares, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This perfect form indicates a completed action with lasting consequences — a shaking that has already begun and will find its final fulfillment. The writer to the Hebrews draws directly from the prophet Haggai, showing how the LXX translators used seíō to render the Hebrew ra'ash, the convulsive trembling that accompanies the presence of the Lord.
The Shaking of Sinai and the Stillness of Faith
Jewish tradition holds that when the Torah was given at Sinai, the mountain itself shook violently. The ancient sages observed that this physical trembling mirrored the inner quaking of every soul who stood before the Living God. In the Septuagint, seíō translates the Hebrew nua — to totter, to wander, to be moved from one's place. This is the root of the word for Noah, whose name suggests rest that comes after the shaking of judgment. Yet the New Testament teaches a paradox: the same God who shakes the foundations of the earth also calms the trembling heart. When Paul and Silas sang in the Philippian prison, the foundations were shaken (Acts 16:26), but their spirits remained steadfast. The apostolic faith understood that external shaking reveals internal stability, and that the only unshakable ground is the confession of Yeshua as Lord.
The Earthquake at the Empty Tomb
Matthew 28:2 records that a great earthquake occurred when the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled away the stone. The verb seíō appears here in its most triumphant context — not the trembling of fear, but the convulsion of victory. The early church understood this shaking as the reversal of the fall. Where Adam's sin brought a curse upon the ground, the resurrection of Messiah caused the ground to tremble with joy. The apostolic tradition teaches that this earthquake was not merely geological but theological: the power of death itself was being dislodged from its ancient seat. Every stone that moved that morning was a sign that the foundations of Hades had been shaken.
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Paul's Unshakable Kingdom
The apostle Paul uses seíō only indirectly, yet his entire theology rests upon the contrast between what can be shaken and what cannot. In 2 Thessalonians 2:2, he warns the believers not to be shaken in mind or troubled by false reports about the day of the Lord. The verb here appears in the present passive infinitive — a continuous state of being disturbed that must be resisted. Paul's gospel presents a kingdom that cannot be shaken, a foundation that holds firm when every earthly institution crumbles. The early fathers of the church, particularly Clement of Rome, echoed this teaching: the shaking of the world is the birth pangs of the age to come. The believer is called not to avoid the shaking but to stand within it, rooted in the Messiah who was himself shaken on the cross so that we might never be moved.
The LXX Bridge: From Quaking to Confidence
When the translators of the Septuagint chose seíō to render the Hebrew ragaz — to tremble, to quake, to be agitated — they created a bridge between the terror of Sinai and the comfort of Zion. In Psalm 99:1, the LXX declares, "The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble" — using seíō to describe the proper response of creation to its King. Yet in Isaiah 66:2, the same verb describes the one whom God regards: the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at His word. This double witness reveals that shaking can be either judgment or reverence, either the terror of the wicked or the worship of the faithful. The Hebrew concept behind seíō carries both meanings, and the New Testament writers drew upon this richness to show that the same power that shakes the nations can steady the soul.
The Shaken and the Shaker
In the Letter to the Hebrews, the Messiah appears as both the one who was shaken and the one who does the shaking. Yeshua trembled in the garden of Gethsemane, his soul troubled to the point of death, experiencing the full weight of human frailty. Yet the same Yeshua is declared to be the one who will shake heaven and earth, removing everything that can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken may remain. The apostolic faith proclaims that the cross was the cosmic earthquake — the moment when the foundations of sin and death were shattered. And the resurrection was the after-shock of new creation, the trembling of a world being reborn. The early church saw in every earthquake a reminder that the present age is passing away, and that only the kingdom of the Son endures forever.
You Are Called to Stand in the Shaking
Beloved reader, the earth will tremble again. The heavens will be shaken, and every throne that is not built upon the name of Yeshua will totter and fall. But you — you who have placed your trust in the One who was shaken for your sake — you are called to stand. Not with stiff pride, but with the holy trembling that recognizes the presence of the Living God. Let the shaking of the world drive you deeper into the unshakable kingdom. Let every tremor remind you that what can be moved is temporary, and what cannot be moved is eternal. The same power that rolled away the stone will steady your feet when all else gives way. So do not fear the shaking — welcome it. For the God who trembles the mountains also holds your hand, and He will not let you be moved.