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. Quæst. L. ii. c. 41.

F3 Senec. Quæst. L. ii. c. 34.

F4 Hor. ap. Hierogl. 29.

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 ;\par

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.

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."

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.

THUNDER (βροντή) 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. 757^b). 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.

By: Isidore Singer, M. Seligsohn

The sound that follows lightning. The proper Hebrew term for it is (Ps. lxxvii. 19 et passim; Job xxvi. 14; Isa. xxix. 6), but it is often rendered in the Bible by , plural (= "voice," "voices"), the singular being always followed by (= "the voice of Yhwh"; Ps. xxx. 3; Isa. xxx. 30). In the plural, with the exception of Ex. ix. 28, where it is followed by , the word "God" is omitted but understood (ib. ix. 23 and elsewhere).

Thunder is one of the phenomena in which the presence of Yhwh is manifested; and it is also one of His instruments in chastising His enemies. According to Ps. lxxvii. 18-19, it was a thunder-cloud that came between the Israelites and the Egyptians when the former were about to cross the Red Sea (comp. Ex. xiv. 20). The hail in the seventh plague of Pharaoh was accompanied by thunder (ib. ix. 23 et passim). The Law was given to the Israelites from Sinai amid thunder and lightning (ib. xix. 16). In the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines in the time of Samuel, a thunder-storm decided the issue in favor of the Israelites (I Sam. vii. 10; Ecclus. [Sirach] xlvi. 17). Later, when the Israelites asked Samuel for a king he prayed to God for a thunder-storm that the petitioners might be overawed (I Sam. xii. 18). The declaration of Jeremiah (Jer. x. 13): "When he uttereth a voice there is a multitude of waters," probably refers to thunder. The most poetical description of a thunder-storm occurs in Ps. xxix. 3 et seq. Thunder following lightning is spoken of in Job xxxvii. 3-4; and in two other passages they are mentioned together (ib. xxviii. 26, xxxviii. 25). The separation of the water from the dry land at the time of the Creation (comp. Gen. i. 9) is said in Ps. civ. 7 to have been accomplished by the voice of God, which probably refers to thunder. The clattering noise of battle is likened to thunder (Job xxxix. 25). Thunder is metaphorically used to denote the power of God (ib. xxvi. 14). The goods of the unjust disappear in a noise like thunder (Ecclus. [Sirach] xl. 13). In the ritual is included a special benediction to be recited on hearing thunder (see Lightning, Benediction on).

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.

thun´dẽr (רעם, ra‛am (1Sa 2:10; Job 26:14; Job 39:19; Job 40:9; Psa 77:18; Psa 81:7; Psa 104:7; Isa 29:6), קול, ḳōl, “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 (βροντή, brontḗ, Joh 12:29). See also LIGHTNING.

(âñïíôÞ)

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 Jahwé’ (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 prophet’s 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.

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.