8816. 'And all the people who were in the camp trembled' means a holy quivering by those about to receive. This is clear from the meaning of 'trembling' as a holy quivering; and from the meaning of 'the people who were in the camp' as those about to receive Divine Truth. Various places in the Word say that when Jehovah comes down the earth quakes and mountains collapse, as in Psalms 77:17-18; 97:4-5; 104:32; and elsewhere. By this the violent shaking of all things at the presence of the Divine is meant; for the Divine is such that no person can bear His presence unless he is in a kind of cloud and so in a suitable condition to receive Him. The Divine is like the fire within the sun; if this were to fall naked on people it would instantly devour them. But reception of Him depends on how far good exists with someone. Those governed by good do indeed start to quiver at the presence of the Divine; but it is a holy quivering that comes before reception. Those however who are ruled by evil are terrified at the presence of the Divine and therefore flee, at which time they are enveloped by their falsities as if by a dark cloud, and are hidden. These falsities are meant by the caves in the rocks they then take themselves into. From all this one may see what 'all the people who were in the camp trembled' means.