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 came, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the shofar exceeding loud, so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.
At this also my heart trembles and is moved out of its place. Hear attentively his terrible voice and the word that goes out of his mouth. read more. He shall place it straight under the whole of the heavens, and his light shall extend unto the ends of the earth. After it shall the sound roar; his valiant voice shall thunder; and he will not stay them even when his voice is heard. God shall thunder marvelously with his voice; he does great things, which we cannot comprehend.
Hast thou an arm like God? And canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
The LORD thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
The voice of the LORD shall make the hinds to calve and shall uncover the forests: and in his temple every one speaks to his glory.
The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people in peace.
He gave up their cattle also to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts of fire.
at his voice, there is given a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes the lightnings with the rain and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.
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 came, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the shofar exceeding loud, so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.
Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the LORD in asking for a king over you. So Samuel called unto the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
Hear attentively his terrible voice and the word that goes out of his mouth.
Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Hast thou an arm like God? And canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
The LORD thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
The voice of thy thunder was all around; the lightnings lightened the world; the earth trembled and shook.
Thou didst call in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
and James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom he surnamed them Boanerges, which is The sons of thunder;
The people, therefore, that were present and heard it, said that it thundered; others said, An angel spoke to him.
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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Intreat the LORD that the thunderings of God and the hail might cease; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay here no longer.
And it came to pass on the third day when the morning came, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the shofar exceeding loud, so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.
Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the LORD in asking for a king over you. So Samuel called unto the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
Behold, these are parts of his ways; but how little a portion have we heard of him? For the thunder of his power, who shall understand?
Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thunders: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. read more. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; yea, the LORD broke the cedars of Lebanon. And He made them skip like a calves; Lebanon and Sirion like the sons of the unicorns. The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD that shall shake the wilderness; the LORD shall shake the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD shall make the hinds to calve and shall uncover the forests: and in his temple every one speaks to his glory.
As snow in summer and as rain in harvest, so honour is not suited for a fool.
The people, therefore, that were present and heard it, said that it thundered; others said, An angel spoke to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. read more. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see as through a mirror, in darkness, but then we shall see face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I also am 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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And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and the LORD raised his voice and it hailed, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
And it came to pass on the third day when the morning came, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the shofar exceeding loud, so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.
And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.
LORD, thine adversaries shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven he shall thunder upon them. The LORD shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.
And it came to pass as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering that the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines and crushed them, and they were smitten before Israel.
Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the LORD in asking for a king over you.
when he made a law for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunders.
After it shall the sound roar; his valiant voice shall thunder; and he will not stay them even when his voice is heard.
Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters or a way for the lightning of thunder,
The LORD thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
And the LORD shall cause the power of his voice to be heard and shall cause the lighting down of his arm to be seen, with the indignation of his countenance and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and tempest and hailstones.
and, behold, a voice from the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my dear Son, in whom I delight.
Father, clarify thy name. Then there came a voice from the heaven, saying, I have clarified it and will clarify 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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While he was yet speaking, another came who said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
The voice of thy thunder was all around; the lightnings lightened the world; the earth trembled and shook.
He gave up their cattle also to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts of fire.
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
The people, therefore, that were present and heard it, said that it thundered; others said, An angel spoke to him.
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
And I saw when the Lamb had opened the first seal, and I heard the first of the four animals, saying as with a voice of thunder, Come and see.
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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LORD, thine adversaries shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven he shall thunder upon them. The LORD shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the LORD in asking for a king over you.
Hear attentively his terrible voice and the word that goes out of his mouth.
After it shall the sound roar; his valiant voice shall thunder; and he will not stay them even when his voice is heard. God shall thunder marvelously with his voice; he does great things, which we cannot comprehend.
Hast thou an arm like God? And canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
The LORD thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thunders: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. read more. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; yea, the LORD broke the cedars of Lebanon. And He made them skip like a calves; Lebanon and Sirion like the sons of the unicorns. The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD that shall shake the wilderness; the LORD shall shake the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD shall make the hinds to calve and shall uncover the forests: and in his temple every one speaks to his glory.
Thou didst call in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
As snow in summer and as rain in harvest, so honour is not suited for a fool.
And the LORD shall cause the power of his voice to be heard and shall cause the lighting down of his arm to be seen, with the indignation of his countenance and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and tempest and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.