Exodus 19:19

19:19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, ¹  Moses was speaking ²  and God was answering him with a voice. ³ 

Deuteronomy 4:11-12

4:11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it ⁴  and yet dark with a thick cloud. ⁵  4:12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything – only a voice was heard. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 5:22

The Narrative of the Sinai Revelation and Israel’s Response

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.

Job 38:1

VI. The Divine Speeches (38:1-42:6)

The Lord’s First Speech ⁹ 

38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ¹⁰ 

Psalms 81:7

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)

John 5:37

5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people ¹³  have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time, ¹⁴ 

John 12:28-30

12:28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, ¹⁵  “I have glorified it, ¹⁶  and I will glorify it ¹⁷  again.” 12:29 The crowd that stood there and heard the voice ¹⁸  said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to him. ¹⁹  12:30 Jesus said, ²⁰  “This voice has not come for my benefit ²¹  but for yours.

Acts 9:3-6

9:3 As he was going along, approaching ²²  Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed ²³  around him. 9:4 He ²⁴  fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, ²⁵  why are you persecuting me?” ²⁶  9:5 So he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting! 9:6 But stand up ²⁷  and enter the city and you will be told ²⁸  what you must do.”

[19:19]  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.

[19:19]  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).

[19:19]  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.

[4:11]  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.

[4:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”

[4:12]  ⁶ tn The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.

[5:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he added no more” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NLT “This was all he said at that time.”

[5:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[38:1]  ⁹ sn This is the culmination of it all, the revelation of the Lord to Job. Most interpreters see here the style and content of the author of the book, a return to the beginning of the book. Here the Lord speaks to Job and displays his sovereign power and glory. Job has lived through the suffering – without cursing God. He has held to his integrity, and nowhere regretted it. But he was unaware of the real reason for the suffering, and will remain unaware throughout these speeches. God intervenes to resolve the spiritual issues that surfaced. Job was not punished for sin. And Job’s suffering had not cut him off from God. In the end the point is that Job cannot have the knowledge to make the assessments he made. It is wiser to bow in submission and adoration of God than to try to judge him. The first speech of God has these sections: the challenge (38:1-3), the surpassing mysteries of earth and sky beyond Job’s understanding (4-38), and the mysteries of animal and bird life that surpassed his understanding (38:39–39:30).

[38:1]  ¹⁰ sn This is not the storm described by Elihu – in fact, the Lord ignores Elihu. The storm is a common accompaniment for a theophany (see Ezek 1:4; Nah 1:3; Zech 9:14).

[81:7]  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).

[81:7]  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.

[5:37]  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.

[5:37]  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 a.d. the giving of the law at Sinai was being celebrated.

[12:28]  ¹⁵ tn Or “from the sky” (see note on 1:32).

[12:28]  ¹⁶ tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[12:28]  ¹⁷ tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[12:29]  ¹⁸ tn “The voice” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[12:29]  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.

[12:30]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Jesus answered and said.”

[12:30]  ²¹ tn Or “for my sake.”

[9:3]  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.

[9:3]  ²³ tn Or “shone” (BDAG 799 s.v. περιαστράπτω). The light was more brilliant than the sun according to Acts 26:13.

[9:4]  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.

[9:4]  ²⁵ tn The double vocative suggests emotion.

[9:4]  ²⁶ sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.

[9:6]  ²⁷ tn Or “But arise.”

[9:6]  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.