the Third Week after Easter
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Job 37:5
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God thunders wondrously with his voice;he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can't comprehend.
God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
God's voice thunders in wonderful ways; he does great things we cannot understand.
God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.
"God thunders wondrously with His voice, Doing great things which we do not comprehend.
God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can't comprehend.
God thundereth marueilously wt his voyce: he worketh great things, which we know not.
God thunders with His voice marvelously,Doing great things which we do not know.
God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things we cannot comprehend.
creating miracles too marvelous for us to understand.
"God thunders wonderfully with his voice, he does great things beyond our understanding.
God thundereth marvellously with his voice, doing great things which we do not comprehend.
God's thundering voice is amazing! He does great things that we cannot understand.
God thunders with his voice; great and marvellous things does he, which we cannot understand.
At God's command amazing things happen, wonderful things that we can't understand.
"God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; he does great things, and we cannot comprehend.
God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things, and we do not know.
when God sendeth out his voyce: greate thinges doth he, which we can not coprehende.
God thundereth marvellously with his voice; Great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;
God thundereth marvellously with His voice; great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend.
God thundereth maruellously with his voice: great things doth hee, which we cannot comprehend.
God thundreth marueylously with his voyce, great thinges doth he which we can not comprehend.
The Mighty One shall thunder wonderfully with his voice: for he has done great things which we knew not;
God thundereth marvelously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
God schal thundre in his vois wondurfulli, that makith grete thingis and that moun not be souyt out.
God thunders marvelously with his voice; Great things he does, which we can't comprehend.
God thundereth marvelously with his voice; great things he doeth, which we cannot comprehend.
God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend.
God's voice is glorious in the thunder. We can't even imagine the greatness of his power.
God thunders with His great voice. He does great things which we cannot understand.
God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
GOD thundereth with his voice, wonderfully, Doing great things, which we cannot know;
God shall thunder wonderfully with his voice, he that doth great and unsearchable things.
God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things which we cannot comprehend.
God thundereth with His voice wonderfully, Doing great things and we know not.
"God thunders with His voice wondrously, Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
thundereth: 2 Samuel 22:14, 2 Samuel 22:15
great: Job 5:9, Job 9:10, Job 11:7, Job 26:14, Job 36:26, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Isaiah 40:21, Isaiah 40:22, Isaiah 40:28, Romans 11:33, Revelation 15:3
Reciprocal: Job 37:2 - the noise Job 40:9 - canst Ezekiel 1:24 - as the voice
Cross-References
He dreamed that there was a ladder (stairway) placed on the earth, and the top of it reached [out of sight] toward heaven; and [he saw] the angels of God ascending and descending on it [going to and from heaven].
His brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than all of his brothers; so they hated him and could not [find it within themselves to] speak to him on friendly terms.
His brothers said to him, "Are you actually going to reign over us? Are you really going to rule and govern us as your subjects?" So they hated him even more for [telling them about] his dreams and for his [arrogant] words.
Israel (Jacob) said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing [the flock] at Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said, "Here I am [ready to obey you]."
Then Jacob said to him, "Please go and see whether everything is all right with your brothers and all right with the flock; then bring word [back] to me." So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.
Then the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, both dreamed a dream in the same night, each man with his [own significant] dream and each dream with its [personal] interpretation.
Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile.
Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies; you have come [with a malicious purpose] to observe the undefended parts of our land."
"The [skilled] archers have bitterly attacked and provoked him; They have shot [at him] and harassed him.
And He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD will make Myself known to him in a vision And I will speak to him in a dream.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
God thundereth marvellously with his voice,.... Or "marvels" c, or marvellous things, which may respect the marvellous effects of thunder and lightning: such as rending rocks and mountains; throwing down high and strong towers; shattering to pieces high and mighty oaks and cedars, and other such like effects, mentioned in Psalms 29:5; and there are some things reported which seem almost incredible, were they not well attested facts; as that an egg should be consumed thereby, and the shell unhurt; a cask of liquor, the liquor in it spoiled, and the cask not touched; money melted in the purse, and the purse whole; the fetus in the womb killed, and the woman preserved; with other things of the like kind mentioned by various writers d; and which are to be accounted for only by the swift motion and piercing and penetrating nature of lightning. So the voice of God in the Gospel thunders out and declares many wonderful things; as the doctrines of the trinity of Persons in one God; of the everlasting love of the three Persons; of the Person of Christ, and the union of the two natures in him; of his incarnation, of redemption and salvation by him; of regeneration by the spirit of God; of union to Christ, and communion with him; and of the resurrection of the dead: and it produces marvellous effects, attended with a divine power; as quickening sinners dead in trespasses and sins; enlightening those who are darkness itself; bearing down all opposition before it; casting down the strong holds of sin and Satan, and reducing the most stubborn and obstinate to the obedience of Christ;
great things doth he, which we cannot comprehend; or "know" e: great things in creation, the nature and causes of which lie greatly out of the reach of man; and which he rather guesses at than knows, and still less comprehends. Great things in providence; in sustaining all creatures and providing for them; and in the government of the world, and in his dispensations in it; his judgments being unsearchable, and his ways past finding out: and great things in grace; as the salvation of sinners by Christ, and the conversion of their souls by his Spirit; and even what is known of them is known but in part and very imperfectly. This is a transition to other great things done by the Lord, besides those before mentioned, and particular instances follow.
c נפלאות "mirabilia", Pagninus, Montanus. d Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 51. Senec. Nat. Quaest. l. 2. c. 31. e ולא נרע "et nesciemus", Pagninus, Montanus; so Schultens.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
God thundereth marvelously - He thunders in a wonderful manner. The idea is, that the voice of his thunder is an amazing exhibition of his majesty and power.
Great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend - That is, not only in regard to the thunder and the tempest, but in other things. The description of the storm properly ends here, and in the subsequent verses Elihu proceeds to specify various other phenomena, which were wholly incomprehensible by man. The reference here to the storm, and to the other grand and incomprehensible phenomena of nature, is a most appropriate introduction to the manifestation of God himself as described in the next chapter, and could not but have done much to prepare Job and his friends for that sublime close of the controversy.
The passage before us Job 36:29-33; Job 37:1-5, is probably the earliest description of a thunderstorm on record. A tempest is a phenomenon which must early have attracted attention, and which we may expect to find described or alluded to in all early poetry. It may be interesting, therefore, to compare this description of a storm, in probably the oldest poem in the world, with what has been furnished by the masters of song in ancient and modern times, and we shall find that in sublimity and beauty the Hebrew poet will suffer nothing in comparison. In one respect, which constitutes the chief sublimity of the description. he surpasses them all: I mean in the recognition of God. In the Hebrew description. God is every where in the storm He excites it; he holds the lightnings in both hands; he directs it where he pleases; he makes it the instrument of his pleasure and of executing his purposes. Sublime, therefore, as is the description of the storm itself, furious as is the tempest; bright as is the lightning: and heavy and awful as is the roar of the thunder, yet the description derives its chief sublimity from the fact that “God” presides over all, riding on the tempest and directing the storm as he pleases. Other poets have rarely attempted to give this direction to the thoughts in their description of a tempest, if we may except Klopstock, and they fall, therefore, far below the sacred poet. The following is the description of a storm by Elihu, according to the exposition which I have given:
Who can understand the outspreading of the clouds,
And the fearful thunderings in his pavilion?
Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it;
He also covereth the depths of the sea.
By these he executeth judgment upon the people,
By these he giveth food in abundance.
With his hands he covereth the lightning,
And commandeth it where to strike.
He pointeth out to his friends -
The collecting of his wrath is upon the wicked.
At this also my heart palpitates,
And is moved out of its place.
Hear, O hear, the thunder of his voice!
The muttering thunder that goes from his mouth!
He directeth it under the whole heaven.
And his lightning to the end of the earth.
After it, the thunder roareth;
He thundereth with the voice of his majesty,
And he will not restrain the tempest when his voice is heard.
God thundereth marvelously with his voice;
He doeth wonders, which we cannot comprehend.
The following is the description of a Tempest by Aeschylus, in the Prometh. Desm., beginning,
- Χθὼν αεσάλευται;
Βρυχία δ ̓ ἠχὼ παραμυκᾶται
Βροντῆς, κ.τ.λ.
- Chthōn sesaleutai;
Bruchia d' ēchō paramukatai
Brontēs, etc.
- “I feel in very deed
The firm earth rock: the thunder’s deepening roar
Rolls with redoubled rage; the bickering flames
Flash thick; the eddying sands are whirled on high;
In dreadful opposition, the wild winds
Rend the vex’d air; the boisterous billows rise
Confounding earth and sky: the impetuous storm
Rolls all its terrible fury.”
Potter
Ovid’s description is the following:
Aethera conscendit, vultumque sequentia traxit
Nubila; queis nimbos, immistaque fulgura ventis
Addidit, et tonitrus, et inevitabile fulmen.
Meta. ii.
The description of a storm by Lucretius, is the following:
Praeterea persaepe niger quoque per mare nimbus
Ut picis e coelo demissum flumen, in undas
Sic cadit, et fertur tenebris, procul et trahit atram
Fulminibus gravidam tempestatem, atque procellis.
Ignibus ac ventis cum primus ipse repletus:
In terris quoque ut horrescant ae tecta requirant.
S c igitur sutpranostrum caput esso putandum est
Tempestatem altam. Neque enim caligine tanta
Obruerat terras, nisi inaedificata superne
Multa forent multis exempto nubila sole.
Lib. vi.
The well-known description of the storm by Virgil is as follows:
Nimborum in patriam, loca foeta furentibus austris,
Aeoliam venit. Hic vasto Rex Aeolus antro
Luctantis ventos tempestatesque sonoras
Imperio premit, ac vinelis et carcere frenat.
Illi indignantes, magno cum murmure, montis
Circum claustra fremunt. Celsa sedet Aeolus arce,
Sceptra tenens: molliitque animos, et temperat iras.
- Venti, velut agmine facto.
Qua data petra, ruunt, et terras turbine perflant.
Incubuere mari, totumque a sedibus imis,
Una Eurusque Notusque ruunt, creberque procelis
Africus, et vastos volvunt ad litora fluctus.
Aeneid i. 51-57, 82-86.
One of the most sublime descriptions of a storm to be found any where, is furnished by Klopstock. It contains a beautiful recognition of the presence and majesty of God, and a most tender and affecting description of the protection which his friends experience when the storm rushes by. It is in the Fruhlingsfeier - a poem which is regarded by many as his masterpiece. A small portion of it I will transcribe:
Wolken stromen herauf!
Sichtbar ist; der komant, der Ewige!
Nun schweben sie, rauschen sie, wirbeln die Winde!
Wie beugt sich der Wald! Wie hebet sich det Strom!
Sichtbar, wie du es Sterblichen seyn kannst,
Ja, das bist du, sichtbar, Unendlicher!
Zurnest du, Herr,
Weil Nacht dein Gewand ist?
Diese Nacht ist Segen der Erde.
Vater, du Zurnest nicht!
Seht ihr den Zeugendes Nahen, den zucken den Strahi?
Hort ihr Jehovah’s Donner?
Hort ihr ihn? hort ihr ihn.
Der erschtternden Donner des Herrn?
Herr! Herr! Gott!
Barmhertzig, und gnadig!
Angebetet, gepriesen,
Sey dein herrlicher Name!
Und die Gowitterwinde! Sie tragen den Donner!
Wie sie rauschen! Wie sie mit lawter Woge den Wald du: chstromen!
Und nun schwiegen sie. Langsam wandelt
Die schwartze Wolke.
Seht ihr den neurn Zeugen des Nahen, den fliegenden Strahl!
Horet ihr hoch in Wolke den Donner dex Herrn?
Er ruft: Jehova! Jehova!
Und der geschmetterte Wald dampft!
Abet nicht unsre Hutte
Unser Vater gebot
Seinem Verderber,
Vor unsrer Hutte voruberzugehn!
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 37:5. God thundereth marvellously with his voice — This is the conclusion of Elihu's description of the lightning and thunder: and here only should Job 36:0 have ended. He began, Job 36:29, with the noise of God's tabernacle; and he ends here with the marvellous thundering of Jehovah. Probably the writer of the book of Job had seen the description of a similar thunder storm as given by the psalmist, Psalms 77:16-19: -
Ver. Psalms 77:16. The waters saw thee, O God!
The waters saw thee, and were afraid.
Yea, the deeps were affrighted!
Ver. Psalms 77:17. The clouds poured out water;
The ethers sent forth a sound;
Yea, thine arrows went abroad.
Ver. Psalms 77:18. The voice of thy thunder was through the expanse:
The lightnings illumined the globe;
The earth trembled and shook!
Ver. Psalms 77:19. Thy way is in the sea,
And thy paths on many waters;
But thy footsteps are not known.
Great things doeth he — This is the beginning of a new paragraph; and relates particularly to the phenomena which are afterwards mentioned. All of them wondrous things; and, in many respects, to us incomprehensible.
