Reference: Thunder
American
And lightning are significant manifestations of the power of God, and emblems of his presence, Ex 19:16; 1Sa 2:10; 12:17; Ps 18:13. Thunder is poetically called "the voice of the Lord" in the sublime description of a thunder-storm in Ps 29:11;
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thundereth;
The Lord is upon many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars;
Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon," etc.
See also Job 37:1-5; 40:9; Jer 10:13. In illustration of Ps 29:9, Moffat, while describing the thunder-storms of South Africa, say that the antelopes flee in consternation; and that he has observed the Bechuanas starting off early on the morning following such a storm in quest of young antelopes prematurely born. In Ps 78:48, "hot thunderbolts" means lightning.
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And it came to pass on the third day, when the morning had come, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the sound of a horn, loud exceedingly, - and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
Yea, at this, my heart quaketh, and starteth up out of its place. Hear! oh hear! the raging of his voice, A growling sound also, out of his mouth, goeth forth; read more. Under the whole heavens, he letteth it loose, His lightning also, unto the wings of the earth; After it, roareth a voice, He thundereth with his voice of majesty, Nor will he hold them back, when his voice is heard. GOD thundereth with his voice, wonderfully, Doing great things, which we cannot know;
But if, an arm like GOD, thou hast, and, with a voice like his, thou canst thunder,
Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, - hail, and live coals of fire.
The voice of Yahweh, causeth the gazelles to bring forth, and hath stript forests; and, in his own temple, every one there, is saying, Glory!
Yahweh, will give, strength to his people, - Yahweh, will bless his people with prosperity.
When he gave up, to hail-storms, their beasts, And their cattle, to pestilent fevers;
At the voice that he uttered, there was a tumult of waters in the heavens, And he caused vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth, - The lightnings for rain, he made, And brought forth wind out of his treasuries.
Easton
often referred to in Scripture (Job 40:9; Ps 77:18; 104:7). James and John were called by our Lord "sons of thunder" (Mr 3:17). In Job 39:19, instead of "thunder," as in the Authorized Version, the Revised Version translates (ra'amah) by "quivering main" (marg., "shaking"). Thunder accompanied the giving of the law at Sinai (Ex 19:16). It was regarded as the voice of God (Job 37:2; Ps 18:13; 81:7; comp. Joh 12:29). In answer to Samuel's prayer (1Sa 12:17-18), God sent thunder, and "all the people greatly feared," for at such a season (the wheat-harvest) thunder and rain were almost unknown in Palestine.
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And it came to pass on the third day, when the morning had come, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the sound of a horn, loud exceedingly, - and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
Is it not wheat harvest, to-day? I will cry unto Yahweh, that he may give forth thunderings and rain, - know ye then and see, that, your wrong, is great which ye have done in the sight of Yahweh, in asking for yourselves, a king. So Samuel cried unto Yahweh, and Yahweh gave forth thunderings and rain, on that day, - and all the people greatly feared Yahweh, and Samuel.
Hear! oh hear! the raging of his voice, A growling sound also, out of his mouth, goeth forth;
Couldst thou give - to the Horse - strength? Couldst thou clothe his neck with the quivering mane?
But if, an arm like GOD, thou hast, and, with a voice like his, thou canst thunder,
Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, - hail, and live coals of fire.
The, voice of thy thunder, was in the whirlwind, Thy lightnings illumined the world, The earth, trembled and quaked;
In distress, thou didst cry, and I delivered thee, - I answered thee, within a hiding-place of thunder, I proved thee by the waters of Meribah. Selah.
At thy rebuke, they flee, At the voice of thy thunder, they hurry away;
and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (and imposed on them a name - Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder);
So, the multitude that was standing by, and heard it, were saying - It hath, thundered. Others, were saying - A messenger, unto him, hath spoken.
Fausets
Rare in the clear air of Palestine in harvest time or summer, which shows how its coming at Samuel's call unto Jehovah was by divine agency (1Sa 12:17-18). God so blessed the Holy Land that the ingathering of fruits and the threshing in the open air were unimpeded by rain. Its coming then would be as unseasonable and calamitous as "honour" conferred on a "fool" (Pr 26:1). Symbolizing divine wrath and judgment (Ex 19:16; Ps 29:3-9; 1Sa 2:10). Thunderings are figuratively spoken of as "voices of God" (Ex 9:28 margin, compare Joh 12:29-30). Job 26:14, translated "and how faint is the word whisper that we hear of Him! but the thunder (i.e. the majestic fullness) of His power (in antithesis to 'the whisper') who can understand?" (1Co 13:9-12.) Job 39:19, "hast thou clothed his (the horse's) neck with thunder?" i.e. majesty (Umbreit): or his arched neck inspiring fear as the thunder does; but Maurer, "with his trembling, quivering mane."
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Make ye request unto Yahweh, and it shall be enough without there being any more thunderings of God, and hail, - and I must a let you go, and not again shall ye delay.
And it came to pass on the third day, when the morning had come, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the sound of a horn, loud exceedingly, - and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
Is it not wheat harvest, to-day? I will cry unto Yahweh, that he may give forth thunderings and rain, - know ye then and see, that, your wrong, is great which ye have done in the sight of Yahweh, in asking for yourselves, a king. So Samuel cried unto Yahweh, and Yahweh gave forth thunderings and rain, on that day, - and all the people greatly feared Yahweh, and Samuel.
Lo! these, are the fringes of his way, and what a whisper of a word hath been heard of him! But, the thunder of his might, who could understand?
Couldst thou give - to the Horse - strength? Couldst thou clothe his neck with the quivering mane?
The voice of Yahweh, is upon the waters, - The GOD of glory, hath thundered, Yahweh, is upon mighty waters; The voice of Yahweh, is with power, The voice of Yahweh, is with majesty; read more. The voice of Yahweh, is breaking cedars, Now hath Yahweh, broken down, the cedars of Lebanon! And hath made them leap like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion, like the bull-calf of wild-oxen; The voice of Yahweh, is cleaving out flames of fire; The voice of Yahweh, bringeth birth-pains upon the wilderness; Yahweh bringeth birth-pains upon the wilderness of Kadesh! The voice of Yahweh, causeth the gazelles to bring forth, and hath stript forests; and, in his own temple, every one there, is saying, Glory!
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so, unbecoming to a dullard is honour.
So, the multitude that was standing by, and heard it, were saying - It hath, thundered. Others, were saying - A messenger, unto him, hath spoken. Jesus answered, and said - Not for my sake, hath this voice come, but, for your sake.
For, in part, are we gaining knowledge, and, in part, are we prophesying, - But, as soon as that which is complete is come, that which is in part, shall be done away. read more. When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, to prefer as child, to reason as a child: now I have become a man, I have laid aside the things of the child! For we see, as yet, through a dim window, obscurely, but, then, face to face: as yet, I gain knowledge, in part, but, then, shall I fully know, even as I was also fully known.
Hastings
There is no finer description of a thunderstorm than that of Ps 29. In a land of high mountains and deep gorges, split throughout its length by the great cleft of the Jordan, the effect of thunder is peculiarly terrible. In Palestine it is confined almost entirely to winter (1Sa 12:17 f.), but the writer once witnessed a terrific storm late in April, among the Gilead uplands. It is invariably accompanied by rain. According to poetic and popular Ideas, thunder was the voice of God (Ps 104:7; Job 37:4 etc.), which a soul gifted with insight might understand and interpret (Joh 12:28 f.; cf. Mr 1:11; Mt 3:17 etc.). It is the expression of His resistless power (1Sa 2:10; Ps 18:13 etc.), and of His inexorable vengeance (Isa 30:30 etc.). Thunder plays a part in afflicting the Egyptians (Ex 9:23 ff.), at the delivery of the Law (Ex 19:16; 20:18), and in discomfiting the Philistines (1Sa 7:10). It is not guided by caprice, but by the will of God (Job 28:26; 38:25). It appears largely in the more terrible imagery of the Apocalypse. For 'Sons of Thunder,' see Boanerges.
W. Ewing.
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So Moses stretched forth his staff over the heavens, and, Yahweh, gave forth thunderings and hail, and there came fire towards the earth, - and Yahweh rained down hail, on the land of Egypt.
And it came to pass on the third day, when the morning had come, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the sound of a horn, loud exceedingly, - and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
And, all the people, were witnessing the voices and the torches, and the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, - so then the people were struck with awe and shrank back, and stood afar off.
As for Yahweh, - they shall be shattered who contend with him, Over him, in the heavens will he thunder, Yahweh, will judge the ends of the earth, - That he may give strength to his King, And exalt the horn of his Anointed One.
And, when Samuel was offering up the ascending-sacrifice, the Philistines, drew near to fight against Israel, - but Yahweh thundered with a great noise throughout that day, over the Philistines, and confused them, and they were smitten before Israel.
Is it not wheat harvest, to-day? I will cry unto Yahweh, that he may give forth thunderings and rain, - know ye then and see, that, your wrong, is great which ye have done in the sight of Yahweh, in asking for yourselves, a king.
When he made, for the rain, a decree, and a way for the lightning of thunders,
After it, roareth a voice, He thundereth with his voice of majesty, Nor will he hold them back, when his voice is heard.
Who hath cloven - for the torrent - a channel? Or a way for the lightning of thunders;
Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, - hail, and live coals of fire.
At thy rebuke, they flee, At the voice of thy thunder, they hurry away;
Then will Yahweh cause to be heard - the resounding of his voice And the bringing down of his arm, shall be seen, In a rage of anger, And with the flame of a devouring fire, - A burst and a downpour, and a hailstone!
and lo! a voice out of the heavens, - saying, This, is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I delight.
and a voice cameout of the heavens - Thou, art my Son, the Beloved, - In thee, I delight.
There came, therefore, a voice out of heaven - I both have glorified it, and will glorify it again.
Morish
This is of rare occurrence in Palestine, and is regarded in scripture as being the voice of God in power, both in the O.T. of the past and in the Revelation of the future. Ps. 29; Ps 77:18; 104:7; Re 4:5; 6:1; etc.: compare also Joh 12:29. In Ps 78:48, in recounting the plagues of Egypt, the flocks are represented as being consumed by HOT THUNDERBOLTS. The word is resheph, and is also translated 'coals,' 'burning coals,' 'burning heat.' Doubtless lightning is referred to, as when the 'fire of God' fell from heaven and burnt up Job's sheep. Job 1:16.
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Yet was this one speaking, when, another, came in and said, - A fire of God, fell out of the heavens, and burned up the sheep and the young men, and consumed them; and escaped am, only I alone, to tell thee.
The, voice of thy thunder, was in the whirlwind, Thy lightnings illumined the world, The earth, trembled and quaked;
When he gave up, to hail-storms, their beasts, And their cattle, to pestilent fevers;
At thy rebuke, they flee, At the voice of thy thunder, they hurry away;
So, the multitude that was standing by, and heard it, were saying - It hath, thundered. Others, were saying - A messenger, unto him, hath spoken.
And, out of the throne, are coming forth lightnings, and voices, and thunderings; and there are seven torches of fire, burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;
And I saw, when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder - Go!
Smith
is hardly ever heard in Palestine form the middle of April to the middle of September; hence it was selected by Samuel as a striking expression of the divine displeasure toward the Israelites.
Rain in harvest was deemed as extraordinary as snow in summer,
and Jerome states that he had never witnessed it in the latter part of June or in July. Comm. on
In the imaginative philosophy of the Hebrews, thunder was regarded as the voice of Jehovah,
Job 37:2,4-5; 40:9; Ps 18:13; 29:3-9; Isa 30:30-31
who dwelt behind the thunder-cloud.
Thunder was, to the mind of the Jew, the symbol of divine power
etc., and vengeance.
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As for Yahweh, - they shall be shattered who contend with him, Over him, in the heavens will he thunder, Yahweh, will judge the ends of the earth, - That he may give strength to his King, And exalt the horn of his Anointed One.
Is it not wheat harvest, to-day? I will cry unto Yahweh, that he may give forth thunderings and rain, - know ye then and see, that, your wrong, is great which ye have done in the sight of Yahweh, in asking for yourselves, a king.
Hear! oh hear! the raging of his voice, A growling sound also, out of his mouth, goeth forth;
After it, roareth a voice, He thundereth with his voice of majesty, Nor will he hold them back, when his voice is heard. GOD thundereth with his voice, wonderfully, Doing great things, which we cannot know;
But if, an arm like GOD, thou hast, and, with a voice like his, thou canst thunder,
Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, - hail, and live coals of fire.
The voice of Yahweh, is upon the waters, - The GOD of glory, hath thundered, Yahweh, is upon mighty waters; The voice of Yahweh, is with power, The voice of Yahweh, is with majesty; read more. The voice of Yahweh, is breaking cedars, Now hath Yahweh, broken down, the cedars of Lebanon! And hath made them leap like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion, like the bull-calf of wild-oxen; The voice of Yahweh, is cleaving out flames of fire; The voice of Yahweh, bringeth birth-pains upon the wilderness; Yahweh bringeth birth-pains upon the wilderness of Kadesh! The voice of Yahweh, causeth the gazelles to bring forth, and hath stript forests; and, in his own temple, every one there, is saying, Glory!
In distress, thou didst cry, and I delivered thee, - I answered thee, within a hiding-place of thunder, I proved thee by the waters of Meribah. Selah.
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so, unbecoming to a dullard is honour.
Then will Yahweh cause to be heard - the resounding of his voice And the bringing down of his arm, shall be seen, In a rage of anger, And with the flame of a devouring fire, - A burst and a downpour, and a hailstone! For at the voice of Yahweh, shall Assyria be crushed, - With his rod, will he smite.