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 shall be in the third day, it being in the morning, and there shall be voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceedingly strong; and all the people in the camp will tremble.
Also at this my heart shall tremble, and it will leap from its place. Hearing, hear ye, to the noise of his voice, and the growling going out from his mouth. read more. He will let it go free under all the heavens, and his light upon the wings of the earth. After him a voice shall rear; he will thunder with the voice of his majesty: and he will not leave them behind when his voice shall be heard. God will thunder with his voice of wonder, doing great things, and we shall not know.
And if an arm to thee as God? and with thy voice wilt thou thunder as he?
And Jehovah will thunder in the heavens, and the Most High will give his voice; hail and coals of fire.
The voice of Jehovah will cause the hinds to bring forth, and will uncover the forests: and in his temple every one said, Glory.
Jehovah will give strength to his people; he will bless his people with peace.
He will deliver their cattle to the hail, and their possessions to the flames.
At the voice his giving a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he will bring the lifting up from the end of the earth; he made lightnings to the rain, and he will bring forth the wind from 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 shall be in the third day, it being in the morning, and there shall be voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceedingly strong; and all the people in the camp will tremble.
Is it not the harvest of wheat this day? I will call to Jehovah and he will give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your wickedness is great which ye did in the eyes of Jehovah to ask for you a king. And Samuel will call to Jehovah, and Jehovah will give voices and rain in that day: and all the people will be greatly afraid of Jehovah and Samuel.
Hearing, hear ye, to the noise of his voice, and the growling going out from his mouth.
Wilt thou give strength to the horse? wilt thou clothe his neck with thunder?
And if an arm to thee as God? and with thy voice wilt thou thunder as he?
And Jehovah will thunder in the heavens, and the Most High will give his voice; hail and coals of fire.
The voice of thy thunder in the wheel: the lightnings lightened the habitable globe: the earth moved and it will shake.
Thou calledst in straits, and I will deliver thee; I will answer thee in the hiding place of thunder. I will prove thee at the water of strife. Silence.
From thy rebuke they shall flee; from the voice of thy thunder they shall be terrified.
And James, him of Zebedee, and John brother of James; and he set to them names Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder:
Then the crowd, having stood and heard, said it was thunder: others said, A messenger has spoken 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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Pray ye to Jehovah and much, from there being voices of God and hail; and I will send you forth, and ye shall not add to stand.
And it shall be in the third day, it being in the morning, and there shall be voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceedingly strong; and all the people in the camp will tremble.
Is it not the harvest of wheat this day? I will call to Jehovah and he will give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your wickedness is great which ye did in the eyes of Jehovah to ask for you a king. And Samuel will call to Jehovah, and Jehovah will give voices and rain in that day: and all the people will be greatly afraid of Jehovah and Samuel.
Behold these the ends of his ways; how transient a sound of the word was heard in him! and the thunder of his might who shall understand?
Wilt thou give strength to the horse? wilt thou clothe his neck with thunder?
The voice of Jehovah upon the waters: the God of glory thundered: Jehovah upon many waters. The voice of Jehovah in power; the voice of Jehovah in splendor. read more. The voice of Jehovah broke the cedars; and Jehovah will break the cedars of Lebanon. And he will cause them to leap as a calf; Lebanon and Sirion as the son of buffaloes. The voice of Jehovah cut out the flames of fire. The voice of Jehovah will cause the desert to whirl; Jehovah will cause the desert of holiness to whirl. The voice of Jehovah will cause the hinds to bring forth, and will uncover the forests: and in his temple every one said, Glory.
As snow in summer and as rain in harvest., so honor not becoming to the foolish one.
Then the crowd, having stood and heard, said it was thunder: others said, A messenger has spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice has not been for me, but for you.
For we know by parts, and we prophesy by parts. And when the perfected come, then shall that by parts be left unemployed. read more. When I was a child, as a child I spake, as a child I thought, as a child I reckoned: and when I had become a man, I left unemployed the things of a child. For now we see by a mirror in an enigma; then face to face: now I know by parts; and then shall I know as I was 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 will stretch forth his rod towards the heavens, and Jehovah gave voices, and hail; and fire will go upon the earth: and Jehovah will rain hail upon the land of Egypt
And it shall be in the third day, it being in the morning, and there shall be voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceedingly strong; and all the people in the camp will tremble.
And all the people saw the voices and the flames, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and the people feared, and they will shake, and they will stand from far off.
Jehovah, they contending against him, shall be broken; in the heavens he will break them in pieces: Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth, and he will give strength to his king, and he will lift up the horn of his Messiah.
And Samuel will be bringing up the burnt-offering, and Philisteim drew near to war against Israel: and Jehovah will thunder with a great voice in that day upon Philisteim and he will discomfit them; and they will be smitten before Israel.
Is it not the harvest of wheat this day? I will call to Jehovah and he will give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your wickedness is great which ye did in the eyes of Jehovah to ask for you a king.
In his making a law for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the voices.
After him a voice shall rear; he will thunder with the voice of his majesty: and he will not leave them behind when his voice shall be heard.
Who divided a channel for the overflowing, and a way for the lightning of the voices?
And Jehovah will thunder in the heavens, and the Most High will give his voice; hail and coals of fire.
From thy rebuke they shall flee; from the voice of thy thunder they shall be terrified.
And Jehovah caused the swelling of his voice to be heard, and he will cause the letting down of his arm to be seen in the anger of his wrath, and the flame of a consuming fire, violent rain and tempest, and the stone of hail,
And behold a voice from the heavens, saying, This is my dearly beloved Son, in whom I was contented.
And a voice was from the heavens; Thou art my dearly beloved Son, in whom I was contented.
Father, honour thy name. Then came a voice from heaven, I have also honoured, and will again honour.
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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This one yet speaking, and this came, and he will say, The fire of God. fell from the heavens, and it will burn upon the sheep and upon the young men, and it will devour them; and I shall escape, only I alone, to announce to thee.
The voice of thy thunder in the wheel: the lightnings lightened the habitable globe: the earth moved and it will shake.
He will deliver their cattle to the hail, and their possessions to the flames.
From thy rebuke they shall flee; from the voice of thy thunder they shall be terrified.
Then the crowd, having stood and heard, said it was thunder: others said, A messenger has spoken to him.
And from the throne go forth lightnings, and thunders, and voices: and 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 seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as the 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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Jehovah, they contending against him, shall be broken; in the heavens he will break them in pieces: Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth, and he will give strength to his king, and he will lift up the horn of his Messiah.
Is it not the harvest of wheat this day? I will call to Jehovah and he will give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your wickedness is great which ye did in the eyes of Jehovah to ask for you a king.
Hearing, hear ye, to the noise of his voice, and the growling going out from his mouth.
After him a voice shall rear; he will thunder with the voice of his majesty: and he will not leave them behind when his voice shall be heard. God will thunder with his voice of wonder, doing great things, and we shall not know.
And if an arm to thee as God? and with thy voice wilt thou thunder as he?
And Jehovah will thunder in the heavens, and the Most High will give his voice; hail and coals of fire.
The voice of Jehovah upon the waters: the God of glory thundered: Jehovah upon many waters. The voice of Jehovah in power; the voice of Jehovah in splendor. read more. The voice of Jehovah broke the cedars; and Jehovah will break the cedars of Lebanon. And he will cause them to leap as a calf; Lebanon and Sirion as the son of buffaloes. The voice of Jehovah cut out the flames of fire. The voice of Jehovah will cause the desert to whirl; Jehovah will cause the desert of holiness to whirl. The voice of Jehovah will cause the hinds to bring forth, and will uncover the forests: and in his temple every one said, Glory.
Thou calledst in straits, and I will deliver thee; I will answer thee in the hiding place of thunder. I will prove thee at the water of strife. Silence.
As snow in summer and as rain in harvest., so honor not becoming to the foolish one.
And Jehovah caused the swelling of his voice to be heard, and he will cause the letting down of his arm to be seen in the anger of his wrath, and the flame of a consuming fire, violent rain and tempest, and the stone of hail, For from the voice of Jehovah shall Assur be broken down, he will smite with a rod.