Discovery BoxJob 37:2-5
Context37:2 Listen carefully 1 to the thunder of his voice,
to the rumbling 2 that proceeds from his mouth.
37:3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
even his lightning to the far corners 3 of the earth.
37:4 After that a voice roars;
he thunders with an exalted voice,
and he does not hold back his lightning bolts 4
when his voice is heard.
37:5 God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; 5
he does great things beyond our understanding. 6
Job 40:9
Context40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s, 7
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
Psalms 29:3-9
Context29:3 The Lord’s shout is heard over the water; 8
the majestic God thunders, 9
the Lord appears over the surging water. 10
29:4 The Lord’s shout is powerful, 11
the Lord’s shout is majestic. 12
29:5 The Lord’s shout breaks 13 the cedars,
the Lord shatters 14 the cedars of Lebanon. 15
29:6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf
and Sirion 16 like a young ox. 17
29:7 The Lord’s shout strikes 18 with flaming fire. 19
29:8 The Lord’s shout shakes 20 the wilderness,
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 21
29:9 The Lord’s shout bends 22 the large trees 23
and strips 24 the leaves from the forests. 25
Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!” 26
Ezekiel 10:5
Context10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God 27 when he speaks.
Revelation 1:15
Context1:15 His feet were like polished bronze 28 refined 29 in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar 30 of many waters.
[37:2] 1 tn The imperative is followed by the infinitive absolute from the same root to express the intensity of the verb.
[37:2] 2 tn The word is the usual word for “to meditate; to murmur; to groan”; here it refers to the low building of the thunder as it rumbles in the sky. The thunder is the voice of God (see Ps 29).
[37:3] 3 tn Heb “wings,” and then figuratively for the extremities of garments, of land, etc.
[37:4] 4 tn The verb simply has the pronominal suffix, “them.” The idea must be that when God brings in all the thunderings he does not hold back his lightning bolts either.
[37:5] 5 tn The form is the Niphal participle, “wonders,” from the verb פָּלָא (pala’, “to be wonderful; to be extraordinary”). Some commentators suppress the repeated verb “thunders,” and supply other verbs like “shows” or “works,” enabling them to make “wonders” the object of the verb rather than leaving it in an adverbial role. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 236) notes, no change is needed, for one is not surprised to find repetition in Elihu’s words.
[37:5] 6 tn Heb “and we do not know.”
[40:9] 7 tn Heb “do you have an arm like God?” The words “as powerful as” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
[29:3] 8 tn Heb “the voice of the
[29:3] 9 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form is probably descriptive. In dramatic fashion the psalmist portrays the
[29:3] 10 tn Traditionally “many waters.” The geographical references in the psalm (Lebanon, Sirion, Kadesh) suggest this is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea (see Ezek 26:19; 27:26). The psalmist describes a powerful storm moving in from the sea and sweeping over the mountainous areas north of Israel. The “surging waters” may symbolize the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy his people (see Pss 18:17; 32:6; 77:20; 93:4; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). In this case the
[29:4] 11 tn Heb “the voice of the
[29:4] 12 tn Heb “the voice of the
[29:5] 13 tn The Hebrew participial form draws attention to the durative nature of the action being described.
[29:5] 14 tn The prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive here and in v. 6a carry on the descriptive function of the preceding participle (see GKC 329 §111.u). The verb שָׁבַר (shavar) appears in the Qal in the first line of the verse, and in the Piel in the second line. The verb, which means “break” in the Qal, appears thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3).
[29:5] 15 sn The cedars of the Lebanon forest were well-known in ancient Israel for their immense size. Here they may symbolize the arrogant enemies of God (see Isa 2:12-13).
[29:6] 16 sn Sirion is another name for Mount Hermon (Deut 3:9).
[29:6] 17 sn Lebanon and Sirion are compared to frisky young animals (a calf…a young ox) who skip and jump. The thunderous shout of the Lord is so powerful, one can see the very mountains shake on the horizon.
[29:7] 18 tn The verb normally means “to hew [stone or wood],” or “to hew out.” In Hos 6:5 it seems to mean “cut in pieces,” “knock down,” or perhaps “hack” (see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea [AB], 428). The Ugaritic cognate can mean “assault.” In v. 7 the verb seems to have a similar meaning, perhaps “attack, strike.” The phrase “flames of fire” is an adverbial accusative; the
[29:7] 19 sn The
[29:8] 20 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms are descriptive in function; the psalmist depicts the action as underway.
[29:8] 21 sn Kadesh. The references to Lebanon and Sirion in v. 6 suggest this is a reference to the northern Kadesh, located north of Damascus, not the southern Kadesh mentioned so often in the OT. See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:178.
[29:9] 22 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form is descriptive in function; the psalmist depicts the action as underway.
[29:9] 23 tc Heb “the deer.” Preserving this reading, some translate the preceding verb, “causes [the deer] to give premature birth” (cf. NEB, NASB). But the Polel of חוּל/חִיל (khul/khil) means “give birth,” not “cause to give birth,” and the statement “the
[29:9] 24 tn The verb is used in Joel 1:7 of locusts stripping the leaves from a tree. The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the descriptive function of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.
[29:9] 25 tn The usual form of the plural of יַעַר (ya’ar, “forest”) is יְעָרִים (yÿ’arim). For this reason some propose an emendation to יְעָלוֹת (yÿ’alot, “female mountain goats”) which would fit nicely in the parallelism with “deer” (cf. NEB “brings kids early to birth”). In this case one would have to understand the verb חָשַׂף (khasaf) to mean “cause premature birth,” an otherwise unattested homonym of the more common חָשַׂף (“strip bare”).
[29:9] 26 tn Heb “In his temple, all of it says, ‘Glory.’”
[10:5] 27 tn The name (“El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72.
[1:15] 28 tn The precise meaning of the term translated “polished bronze” (χαλκολιβάνῳ, calkolibanw), which appears nowhere else in Greek literature outside of the book of Revelation (see 2:18), is uncertain. Without question it is some sort of metal. BDAG 1076 s.v. χαλκολίβανον suggests “fine brass/bronze.” L&N 2.57 takes the word to refer to particularly valuable or fine bronze, but notes that the emphasis here and in Rev 2:18 is more on the lustrous quality of the metal.
[1:15] 29 tn Or “that has been heated in a furnace until it glows.”
[1:15] 30 tn Grk “sound,” but the idea is closer to the roar of a waterfall or rapids.
