Thunder
THUNDER
And lightning are significant manifestations of the power of God, and emblems of his presence, Exo 19:16 1Sa 2:10 12:17 Psa 18:13 . Thunder is poetically called “the voice of the Lord” in the sublime description of a thunder-storm in Psa 29:11 ;
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Thunder
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Thunder, the noise due to the disturbance of the air by the discharge of electricity, was regarded throughout the ancient world as supernatural. One of the elements of a theophany was the voice that shook the earth (Heb 12:26), words reminiscent of Psa 46:5 and of the manifestation on Sinai (Exo 19:16; Exo 20:18). The thunder to the feeling of the ancients is the most important part of the storm, seeming to be the commanding voice, the terrifying exclamation of Jahw (H. A. von Ewald, Commentary on the Psalms, Eng. translation , i. [London, 1880] 94). Thunder is one of the most impressive categories of the Book of Revelation. Like the seven stars, churches, seals, trumpets, and bowls, the seven thunders form a complete portion of the apocalyptic machinery (H. Alford, The Greek Testament, iv.5 [London, 1875], on Rev 10:3-4). To the prophets imagination, thunder is now a celestial warning to wicked men, now a majestic chorus in praise of God. When an angel casts a censer filled with fire upon the earth, and another pours his bowl upon the air, there are lightnings and thunders (Rev 8:5; Rev 16:18). When the lost Ark of the Covenant is restored to its place, the thunders of Sinai are again heard (Rev 11:19). To conscience-stricken men it always appeared that lightnings and thunders proceeded from the very throne of God (Rev 4:5); and even a modern poet says that if He thunders by law, the thunder is still His voice. But thunder does not always suggest terrible things to the apocalyptist. His ear catches the echoes of thunder-music in heaven. The voice of harpers harping with their harps is as the voice of a great thunder (Rev 14:2); and the voice of a great multitude is as the voice of mighty thunders, saying Hallelujah (Rev 19:6).
James Strahan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Thunder
(prop. , rdam, ; occasionally [Exo 9:28-29; Exo 9:33-34; Exo 19:16; Exo 20:18; 1Sa 7:10; 1Sa 12:17-18; Job 28:26; Job 38:25] , kl, voice, as an elliptical expression for Jehovah’s voice [Psa 29:3 sq., etc.]; so also in the plur. , thunders, Exo 9:23, etc.; which is likewise elliptical for the full voices of God [exe 9:28];once [Job 39:19 (23)] erroneously in the A. V. for , raamh, a shuddering, i.e. probably the mane of a horse as bristling and streaming in the wind). This sublimest of all the extraordinary phenomena of nature is poetically represented as the voice of God, which the waters obeyed at the Creation (Psa 104:7; comp. Gen 1:9). For other instances see Job 37:4-5; Job 40:9; Psa 18:13; and especially ch. 29 which contains a magnificent description of a thunder-storm. Agreeably to the popular speech of ancient nations, the poet ascribes the effects of lightning to the thunder, The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars (Psa 18:5; comp. 1Sa 2:19). In Jer 10:13 the production of rain by lightning is referred to: When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, he maketh lightnings with (or for) rain. SEE RAIN.
Thunder is also introduced into the poetical allusion to the passage of the Red Sea in Psalm 67:18. The plague of hail on the land of Egypt is very naturally represented as accompanied with mighty thunderings, which would be literally incidental to the immense agency of the electric fluid on that occasion (Exo 9:22-29; Exo 9:33-34). It accompanied the lightnings at the giving of the law (Exo 19:16; Exo 20:18). See also Psa 81:7, which probably refers to the same occasion, I answered thee in the secret place of thunder, literally, in the covering of thunder, , i.e. the thunder-clouds. It was also one of the grandeurs attending the divine interposition described in 2Sa 22:14; comp. Psa 18:13. The enemies of Jehovah are threatened with destruction by thunder; perhaps, however, lightning is included in the mention of the more impressive phenomenon (1Sa 2:10). Such means are represented as used in the destruction of Sennacherib’s army (Isa 29:5-7; comp. Isa 30:30-33). Bishop Lowth would understand the description as metaphorical, and intended, under a variety of expressive and sublime images, to illustrate the greatness, the suddenness, the horror of the event, rather than the manner by which it was effected (new transl., and notes ad loc.). Violent thunder was employed by Jehovah as a means of intimidating the Philistines in their attack upon the Israelites, while Samuel was offering the burnt-offering (1Sa 7:10; Sir 46:17). Homer represents Jupiter as interposing in a battle with thunder and lightning (Iliad, 8:75, etc.; 17:594; see also Spence, Polymetis, Dial. 13:211). The term thunder was transferred to the war-shout of a military leader (Job 39:25), and hence- Jehovah is described as causing his voice to be heard in the battle (Isa 30:30). Thunder was miraculously sent at the request of Samuel (1Sa 12:17-18). It is referred to as a natural phenomenon subject to laws originally appointed by the Creator (Job 28:26; Job 38:25; Sir 43:17); and is introduced in visions (Rev 4:5; Rev 6:1; Rev 8:5; Rev 11:19; Rev 14:2; Rev 16:18; Rev 19:6; Esther [Apoc.] 11:5). So in Rev 10:3-4, seven thunders. SEE SEVEN.
It is adopted as a comparison. Thus as lightning is seen before the thunder is heard, so modesty in a person before he speaks recommends him to the favor of the auditors (Sir 32:10; Rev 19:6,etc.). The sudden ruin of the unjust man is compared to the transitory noise of thunder (Sir 40:13); but see Arnald, ad loc. One of the sublimest metaphors in the Scriptures occurs in Job 26:14, Lo, these are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him [, a mere whisper]; but the thunder of his power, who can understand? Here the whisper and the thunder are admirably opposed to each other. If the former be so wonderful and overwhelming, how immeasurably more so the latter? In the sublime description of the war-horse (Job 39), he is said to perceive the battle afar off by the thunder of the captains, and the shouting (Job 39:25). That part of the description, however (Job 39:19), hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? appears to be a mistranslation. To the class of mistranslations must be referred every instance of the word thunderbolts in our version, a word which corresponds to no reality in nature. SEE THUNDERBOLT.
It is related (Joh 12:28) that Jesus said, Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I haves both glorified it, and will glorify it again. Some of the people that stood by, but had not heard the words distinctly, said it had thundered, for the voice came from heaven; others who had caught the words supposed that God had spoken to Jesus by an angel, conformably to the Jewish opinion that God had never spoken but by the ministry of angels. Perhaps, however, thunder attended the voice, either a little before or after; comp. Exo 19:16; Exo 19:19; Rev 4:5; Rev 6:1. SEE BATH-KOL.
Thunder enters into the appellative or surname given by our Lord to James and John-Boanerges, , , says Mark, sons of thunder (Mar 3:17). Schleusner here understands the thunder of eloquence as in Aristoph. (Achar. 530). Virgil applies a like figure to the two Scipios, Duo fulmina belli (En. 6:842). Others understand the allusion to be to the energy and courage, etc., of the two apostles (Lardner, Hist. of theApostles and Evangelists, 9:1; Suicer, Thesaurus, s.v. ). Theophylact says they were so called because they were great preachers and divines, . Others suppose the allusion to be to the proposal of these apostles to call fire from heaven on the inhospitable Samaritans (Luk 9:53-54). It is not certain when our Lord so surnamed them. SEE BOANERGES.
In a physical point of view, the most noticeable feature in connection with thunder is the extreme rarity of its occurrence during the summer months in Palestine and the adjacent countries. From the middle of April to the middle of September it is hardly ever heard. Robinson, indeed, mentions an instance of thunder in the early part of May (Researches, 1, 430), and Russell in July (Aleppo, 2, 289); but in each case it is stated to be a most unusual event. Hence it was selected by Samuel as a striking expression of the Divine displeasure towards the Israelites: Is it not wheat harvest to- day? I will call upon the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain (1Sa 12:17). Rain in harvest was deemed as extraordinary as snow in summer (Pro 26:1), and Jerome asserts that he had never witnessed it in the latter part of June, or in July (Comment. on Amo 4:7); the same observations apply equally to thunder, which is rarely unaccompanied with rain (Russell, 1, 72; 2, 285). Lieutenant Lynch, in the month of May, witnessed a thunder storm in the mountains of Moab, near the Dead Sea. He, says, Before we had half ascended the pass, however, there came a shout of thunder from the dense cloud which had gathered at the summit of the gorge, followed by a rain, compared to which the gentle showers. of oar more favored clime are as dew-drops to the overflowing cistern. The black and threatening cloud soon enveloped the mountain- tops, the lightning playing across it in incessant flashes, while the loud thunder reverberated from side to side of the appalling chasm. Between the peals we soon heard a roaring: and continuous sound. It was the torrent from the rain-cloud, sweeping in a long line of foam down the steep declivity, bearing along huge fragments of rock, which, striking against each other, sounded like mimic thunder (Expedition, p. 353). SEE LIGHTNING.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Thunder
often referred to in Scripture (Job 40:9; Ps. 77:18; 104:7). James and John were called by our Lord “sons of thunder” (Mark 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. John 12:29). In answer to Samuel’s prayer (1 Sam. 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.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Thunder
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” (Pro 26:1). Symbolizing divine wrath and judgment (Exo 19:16; Psa 29:3-9; 1Sa 2:10). Thunderings are figuratively spoken of as “voices of God” (Exo 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.”
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Thunder
THUNDER () is but twice mentioned in the Gospels (Mar 3:17, Joh 12:29). In mountainous Palestine, with the long deep gorge of the Jordan, it is perhaps the most awe-inspiring of natural phenomena. It seldom occurs save in the winter half of the year, and is almost invariably accompanied by rain. For the old Israelites thunder was the voice of God, with a meaning which persons specially gifted might understand. It seems probable that the voice out of heaven (Joh 12:28-29) was a thunder-peal, as indeed most of those present thought, and that its significance was recognized and interpreted by Jesus alone (Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible iv. 757b). The surname sons of thunder given to James and John (Mar 3:17) disappears at once and finally from the records. On the available data no sure opinion can be formed as to why it was applied to them. As men in the East are called sons of that which is most characteristic of them, there was doubtless something thundery about them,a tendency, e.g., to wrathful resentment of slight or injury (Luk 9:54). See Boanerges.
W. Ewing.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Thunder
THUNDER.There is no finer description of a thunderstorm than that of Psa 29:1-11. 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 (Psa 104:7, Job 37:4 etc.), which a soul gifted with insight might understand and interpret (Joh 12:28 f.; cf. Mar 1:11, Mat 3:17 etc.). It is the expression of His resistless power (1Sa 2:10, Psa 18:13 etc.), and of His inexorable vengeance (Isa 30:30 etc.). Thunder plays a part in afflicting the Egyptians (Exo 9:23 ff.), at the delivery of the Law (Exo 19:16; Exo 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; Job 38:25). It appears largely in the more terrible imagery of the Apocalypse. For Sons of Thunder, see Boanerges.
W. Ewing.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Thunder
thunder (, raam (1Sa 2:10; Job 26:14; Job 39:19; Job 40:9; Psa 77:18; Psa 81:7; Psa 104:7; Isa 29:6), , kol, a voice (Exo 9:23; 1Sa 7:10; 1Sa 12:17; Job 28:26; Job 38:25)): Thunder is the noise resulting from the lightning discharge. It is very common in the winter storms of Syria and Palestine and occurs in the extra-season storms. Thunder accompanied the storm of hail in Egypt at the time of the plagues: The Lord sent thunder and hail (Exo 9:23).
Lightning and thunder are indications of the power of Yahweh and His might. The thunder of his power who can understand? (Job 26:14); The God of glory thundereth (Psa 29:3). Yahweh also confused the Philistines with thunder (1Sa 7:10), and His foes were visited of Yahweh of hosts with thunder (Isa 29:6). Thunder was regarded as the voice of Yahweh: God thundereth with the voice of his excellency (Job 37:4), and God spoke to Jesus in the thunder (, bronte, Joh 12:29). See also LIGHTNING.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Thunder
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. Psa 29; Psa 77:18; Psa 104:7; Rev 4:5; Rev 6:1; etc.: compare also Joh 12:29. In Psa 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.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Thunder
Sent as a plague:
– Upon the Egyptians
Exo 9:23-34
– Upon the Philistines, in battle with the children of Israel
1Sa 7:10
Sent as a judgment
Isa 29:6
On Sinai
Exo 19:16; Psa 77:18; Heb 12:18-19
A token of divine anger
1Sa 12:17-18
A manifestation of divine power
Job 26:14; Psa 77:18
Sons of Zebedee called »sons of thunder«
Mar 3:17
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Thunder
Thunder. Thunder is hardly ever heard in Palestine, from 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. 1Sa 12:17. Rain, in harvest, was deemed as extraordinary as snow in summer, Pro 26:1, and Jerome states that he had never witnessed it, in the latter part of June or in July. Amo 4:7.
In the imaginative philosophy of the Hebrews, thunder was regarded as the voice of Jehovah, Job 37:2; Job 37:4-5; Job 40:9; Psa 18:13; Psa 29:3-9; Isa 30:30-31, who dwelt behind the thunder-cloud. Psa 81:7. Thunder was, to the mind of the Jew, the symbol of divine power, Psa 29:3. etc., and vengeance. 1Sa 2:10; 2Sa 22:14.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
THUNDER,
Thunder in Psa 29:3, is called the voice of God. This voice comes from heaven, and therefore, as the heaven signifies the station of the supreme visible power, which is the political heaven, as has been shewn under the word HEAVEN, so the thunder must be the voice and proclamation of that authority and power, and of its will and laws, implying the obedience of the subjects, and at last overcoming all opposition. So that in this sense thunder is the symbol of such oracles or laws as are enacted with terror; and so terrify men into a suitable obedience. And thus the law of Moses was ushered in with thunders and lightnings, Exo 19:16.
The Oneirocritics have had some notion of thunder signifying the publication of things; and therefore Alexander Myndius, cited by Artemidorus, saith, ” Thunder discovers those that are hidden, or desire to be hid.” And afterwards it is said, ” Thunder betokens a more glorious authority, or priesthood, which those that are struck therewith, or dreamed to be so, shall enjoy.”f1
Thunder, considered as a motion or shaking, signifies a revolution in the state, or change of affairs; as in Hag 2:6-7; Hag 2:21.f2 And from the fear and terror which thunder occasions, thunder in Scripture is frequently used of God’s discomfiting the enemies of His Church; as in 1Sa 2:10; 1Sa 7:10; Psa 18:13 and in Isa 29:6, of his punishing the rebellious Jews.
Amongst the Pagans all other portending symbols were stopped by that of the thunder, unless the thunder did confirm the former by being on the same side.f3
They esteemed thunder the immediate voice of God, and therefore thought it presumption to consult about any thing when God spake. His voice ought to impose silence on all, according to that eternal maxim of all government, that when the supreme authority speaks, the less courts cannot exert their power; and the presence of the supreme magistrate supersedes for the time the power of all the inferiors.
With the Egyptians thunder was the symbol of a voice at a great distance.f4
The seat of thunders and lightnings is the air.
F1 Artem. L. ii. c. 8.
F2 See also Senec. Nat. Qust. L. ii. c. 41.
F3 Senec. Qust. L. ii. c. 34.
F4 Hor. ap. Hierogl. 29.
Fuente: A Symbolical Dictionary
Thunder
Job 26:14 (a) This was used to indicate that though our sense of hearing may realize that GOD is working, our minds are unable to understand the manner of it.
Job 39:19 (b) The type is used to illustrate man’s helplessness, either to give strength to the horse, or power to the elements.
Psa 77:18 (a) In this wonderful way GOD is telling us of His mighty power which is beyond human control and human comprehension. (See also Psa 29:3; Psa 104:7).
Psa 81:7 (a) GOD dwells in the high and holy place, but He hears the faintest cry of His child wherever he may be.
Rev 14:2 (b) It is symbolical of the great and mysterious power of GOD in that no one can understand it, nor control it.