Psalms 77:18

77:18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;

the lightning bolts lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook. ¹ 

Psalms 144:5-6

144:5 O Lord, make the sky sink ²  and come down! ³ 

Touch the mountains and make them smolder! ⁴ 

144:6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter them!

Shoot your arrows and rout them! ⁵ 

Exodus 9:23

9:23 When Moses extended ⁶  his staff toward the sky, the Lord ⁷  sent thunder ⁸  and hail, and fire fell to the earth; ⁹  so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 10:2

10:2 So fire went out from the presence of the Lord ¹⁰  and consumed them so that they died before the Lord.

Numbers 16:35

16:35 Then a fire ¹¹  went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.

Numbers 16:2

16:2 and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders ¹²  of the community, chosen from the assembly, ¹³  famous men. ¹⁴ 

Numbers 1:10-12

1:10 from the sons of Joseph:

from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;

from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

1:11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

1:12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

Job 37:3

37:3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

even his lightning to the far corners ¹⁵  of the earth.

Job 38:35

38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?

Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?

¹ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

² tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm. See Ps 18:9.

³ tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.

⁴ tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.

⁵ sn Arrows and lightning bolts are associated in other texts (see Pss 18:14; 77:17-18; Zech 9:14), as well as in ancient Near Eastern art (see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” [Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983], 187).

⁶ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next clause in view of the emphasis put on the subject, Yahweh, by the disjunctive word order of that clause.

⁷ tn By starting the clause with the subject (an example of disjunctive word order) the text is certainly stressing that Yahweh alone did this.

⁸ tn The expression נָתַן קֹלֹת (natan qolot) literally means “gave voices” (also “voice”). This is a poetic expression for sending the thunder. Ps 29:3 talks about the “voice of Yahweh” – the God of glory thunders!

⁹ sn This clause has been variously interpreted. Lightning would ordinarily accompany thunder; in this case the mention of fire could indicate that the lightning was beyond normal and that it was striking in such a way as to start fires on the ground. It could also mean that fire went along the ground from the pounding hail.

¹⁰ tn See the note on 9:24a.

¹¹ tn For a discussion of the fire of the Lord, see J. C. H. Laughlin, “The Strange Fire of Nadab and Abihu,” JBL 95 (1976): 559-65.

¹² tn Heb “princes” (so KJV, ASV).

¹³ tn These men must have been counselors or judges of some kind.

¹⁴ tn Heb “men of name,” or “men of renown.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “wings,” and then figuratively for the extremities of garments, of land, etc.