5:22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. 7 Then he inscribed the words 8 on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
VI. The Divine Speeches (38:1-42:6)
The Lord’s First Speech 938:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 10
81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud. 11
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 12 (Selah)
1 tn The active participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh) is used to add the idea of “continually” to the action of the sentence; here the trumpet became very loud – continually. See GKC 344 §113.u.
2 tn The two verbs here (“spoke” and “answered”) are imperfect tenses; they emphasize repeated action but in past time. The customary imperfect usually is translated “would” or “used to” do the action, but here continuous action in past time is meant. S. R. Driver translates it “kept speaking” and “kept answering” (Exodus, 172).
3 tn The text simply has בְּקוֹל (bÿqol); it could mean “with a voice” or it could mean “in thunder” since “voice” was used in v. 16 for thunder. In this context it would be natural to say that the repeated thunderings were the voice of God – but how is that an answer? Deut 4:12 says that the people heard the sound of words. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 232-33) rightly comments, “He was answering him with a loud voice so that it was possible for Moses to hear His words clearly in the midst of the storm.” He then draws a parallel from Ugaritic where it tells that one of the gods was speaking in a loud voice.
4 tn Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
5 tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”
6 tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
7 tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”
8 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the
9 sn This is the culmination of it all, the revelation of the
10 sn This is not the storm described by Elihu – in fact, the
11 tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).
12 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
13 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to clarify that the following verbs (“heard,” “seen,” “have residing,” “do not believe”) are second person plural.
14 sn You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time. Compare Deut 4:12. Also see Deut 5:24 ff., where the Israelites begged to hear the voice no longer – their request (ironically) has by this time been granted. How ironic this would be if the feast is Pentecost, where by the 1st century
15 tn Or “from the sky” (see note on 1:32).
16 tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
17 tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
18 tn “The voice” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
19 tn Grk “Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” The direct discourse in the second half of v. 29 was converted to indirect discourse in the translation to maintain the parallelism with the first half of the verse, which is better in keeping with English style.
20 tn Grk “Jesus answered and said.”
21 tn Or “for my sake.”
22 tn Grk “As he was going along, it happened that when he was approaching.” The phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
23 tn Or “shone” (BDAG 799 s.v. περιαστράπτω). The light was more brilliant than the sun according to Acts 26:13.
24 tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.
25 tn The double vocative suggests emotion.
26 sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.
27 tn Or “But arise.”
28 tn Literally a passive construction, “it will be told to you.” This has been converted to another form of passive construction in the translation.