"And the whole mountain trembled" (Exodus 19:18) — when God descended onto Mount Sinai, the mountain shook. But the Mekhilta reveals that Sinai was not the only mountain trembling. Every mountain in the world was "included" in the shaking. The verse from (Judges 5:5) confirms this: "The mountains quaked before the Lord — this is Sinai." And (Psalms 68:17) adds a dramatic scene: "Why do you quake, you mountains of gavnunim?"
The word gavnunim (or givnonim) means "peaked" or "humped," related to the word gibein in (Leviticus 21:20), meaning "hunchback." The Mekhilta explains that all the great mountains of the world — the tall, peaked, imposing ones — were shaking with jealousy and indignation. Why was Sinai chosen for the revelation? They were taller. They were more impressive. They had grander peaks and more commanding presence.
God's response to the quaking mountains was devastating: "You are all givnonim." Despite your height, despite your grandeur, despite your towering peaks — you are all hunchbacks. Your very impressiveness is your disqualification. God chose Sinai precisely because it was the lowliest mountain, the least imposing, the one with nothing to boast about.
This teaching became one of the most famous parables about humility in rabbinic literature. The Torah was not given on the highest peak or in the most magnificent setting. It was given on a modest mountain in the wilderness — a mountain so unremarkable that its exact location was eventually forgotten. God chose humility over grandeur, and the mountains that protested their exclusion only proved why they were passed over. The mountain that did not boast was the mountain that received the Torah.