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Friday, October 18th, 2024
the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Read the Bible

King James Version

Job 37:4

After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   God Continued...;   Religion;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Thunder;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Nature, Natural;   Pride;   Testimony;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Lightning;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Thunder;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Thunder;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Excellency;   Jacob (1);   Stay;   Thunder;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Miracle;   Providence;   Suspended Letters;   Thunder;  

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
Then comes the roaring of the thunder— the tremendous voice of his majesty. He does not restrain it when he speaks.
English Revised Version
After it a voice roareth; he thundereth with the voice of his majesty: and he stayeth them not when his voice is heard.
Update Bible Version
After it a voice roars; He thunders with the voice of his majesty; And he does not restrain [the lightnings] when his voice is heard.
New Century Version
After that you can hear the roar when he thunders with a great sound. He does not hold back the flashing when his voice is heard.
New English Translation
After that a voice roars; he thunders with an exalted voice, and he does not hold back his lightning bolts when his voice is heard.
Webster's Bible Translation
After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellence; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.
World English Bible
After it a voice roars. He thunders with the voice of his majesty; He doesn't hold back anything when his voice is heard.
Amplified Bible
"After it, His voice roars; He thunders with the voice of His majesty, And He does not restrain His lightning [against His adversaries] when His voice is heard.
English Standard Version
After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sown schal rore aftir hym, he schal thundre with the vois of his greetnesse; and it schal not be souyt out, whanne his vois is herd.
Berean Standard Bible
Then there comes a roaring sound; He thunders with His majestic voice. He does not restrain the lightning when His voice resounds.
Contemporary English Version
God's majestic voice thunders his commands,
American Standard Version
After it a voice roareth; He thundereth with the voice of his majesty; And he restraineth not the lightnings when his voice is heard.
Bible in Basic English
After it a voice is sounding, thundering out the word of his power; he does not keep back his thunder-flames; from his mouth his voice is sounding.
Complete Jewish Bible
There follows a sound, a roar — he is thundering with his majestic voice, and he keeps releasing [the lightning] even while his voice is being heard.
Darby Translation
After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency, and holdeth not back the flashes when his voice is heard.
Easy-to-Read Version
After the flashes of lightning you can hear his roaring voice. He thunders with his wonderful voice! And while his voice thunders, the lightning flashes continue.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
After it a voice roareth; He thundereth with the voice of His majesty;
King James Version (1611)
After it a voyce roareth: he thundreth with the voice of his excellencie, and hee will not stay them when his voice is heard.
New Life Bible
His voice sounds after it. He thunders with His great and powerful voice. And He does not hold back the lightning when His voice is heard.
New Revised Standard
After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
Geneva Bible (1587)
After it a noyse soundeth: hee thundereth with the voyce of his maiestie, and hee will not stay them when his voyce is heard.
George Lamsa Translation
In his own place, he thunders with the voice of his excellency; and he will not need to search them out when his voice is heard.
Good News Translation
Then the roar of his voice is heard, the majestic sound of thunder, and all the while the lightning flashes.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
After it, roareth a voice, He thundereth with his voice of majesty, Nor will he hold them back, when his voice is heard.
Douay-Rheims Bible
After it a noise shall roar, he shall thunder with the voice of his majesty, and shall not be found out, when his voice shall be heard.
Revised Standard Version
After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
A roring voyce foloweth it: for his glorious maiestie geueth a thuder clappe, & he will not stay whe his voyce is heard.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
After him shall be a cry with a loud voice; he shall thunder with the voice of his excellency, yet he shall not cause men to pass away, for one shall hear his voice.
Christian Standard Bible®
Then there comes a roaring sound;God thunders with his majestic voice.He does not restrain the lightningwhen his rumbling voice is heard.
Hebrew Names Version
After it a voice roars. He thunders with the voice of his majesty; He doesn't hold back anything when his voice is heard.
Lexham English Bible
After it, his voice roars; it thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain it when his voice is heard.
Literal Translation
After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice; and He will not hold them back when His voice is heard.
Young's Literal Translation
After it roar doth a voice -- He thundereth with the voice of His excellency, And He doth not hold them back, When His voice is heard.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
A roaringe voyce foloweth him: for his glorious magesty geueth soch a thondre clappe, that (though a man heare it) yet maye he not perceaue it afterwarde. It geueth an horrible sownde,
New American Standard Bible
"After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain the lightning when His voice is heard.
New King James Version
After it a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain them when His voice is heard.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard.
Legacy Standard Bible
After it, a voice roars;He thunders with His majestic voice,And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard.

Contextual Overview

1 At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place. 2 Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth. 3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth. 4 After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard. 5 God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a voice: Psalms 29:3-9, Psalms 68:33

the voice: Exodus 15:7, Exodus 15:8, Deuteronomy 33:26

he will: Job 36:27-33

Reciprocal: Job 40:9 - canst Ezekiel 1:24 - as the voice Luke 17:24 - as

Cross-References

Genesis 4:5
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Genesis 27:41
And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.
Genesis 37:3
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Genesis 37:5
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Genesis 37:11
And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
Genesis 37:12
And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
Genesis 37:13
And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
Genesis 37:18
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Genesis 37:19
And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Genesis 37:24
And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

After it a voice roareth,.... After the lightning comes a violent crack or clap of thunder, which is like the roaring of a lion. Such is the order of thunder and lightning, according to our sense and apprehension of them; otherwise in nature they are together: but the reasons given why the lightning is seen before, and so the same in the flash and report of a gun, are, because the sense of seeing is quicker than the sense of hearing y; and the motion of light is quicker than that of sound; which latter is the truest reason z. The roaring voice of thunder may be an emblem of the thunder of the law; its dreadful volleys of curses, vengeance, and wrath on the breakers of it, as delivered out by Boanergeses, sons of thunder, Mark 3:17: or the loud proclamation of the Gospel, made by the ministers of it; and the alarming awakening sound of the word, when attended with the Spirit and power of God, to sinners asleep and dead in trespasses and sins; upon which they awake, hear, and live;

he thundereth with the voice of his excellency: that is, God thunders with such a voice, an excellent and majestic one; for his voice of thunder is full of majesty, Psalms 29:4. So is the voice of Christ in the Gospel; he spake when on earth as one having authority, and he comes forth and appears in it now with majesty and glory; and speaks in it of the excellent things which he has done, of the excellent righteousness he has wrought out, of the excellent sacrifice he has offered up, and of the excellent salvation he is the author of;

and he will not stay them when his voice is heard; either the thunder and the lightning, as some; which he does not long defer after he has given out the decree concerning them, the order and disposition for them: or rather the rain and hail; these are not stayed, but quickly follow the flash of lightning and clap of thunder: "for when he utters his voice [of thunder], there is a multitude of waters in the heavens"; and these quickly come down and are not stopped, Jeremiah 10:13. The word for "stay" signifies "to supplant", or "act deceitfully"; the name of Jacob is derived from this root, because he supplanted his brother,

Genesis 25:26; and so it may be rendered here, "he will not supplant", or "deceive them a, when his voice is heard": that is, either he does not subvert them, the heavens and earth, but preserves them; though he makes them to tremble with his voice of thunder b: or he does not act the part of a secret, subtle, and deceitful enemy, when he thunders; but shows himself openly as a King, executing his decrees with authority c: or rather he deceives none with his voice; none can mistake it; all know it to be the voice of thunder when it is heard: so Christ's sheep know his voice in the Gospel, and cannot be deceived; the voice of a stranger they will not follow, John 10:4.

y Senec. Nat. Quaest. l. 2. c. 12. so Aristot. Meteorolog. l. 2. c. 9. z The noise is commonly about seven or eight seconds after the flash, that is, about half a quarter of a minute; but sometimes much sooner, in a second or two, or less than so, and almost immediately upon the flash: this is when the explosion is very near us. Philosoph. Transact. abridged, vol. 2. p. 183. see vol. 4. p. 398. a ולא יעקבם "non supplantabit ea", Munster; so Schmidt, Michaelis, Gussetius, p. 633. b So Schmidt. c So Gussetius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

After it a voice roareth - After the lightning; that is, the flash is seen before the thunder is heard. This is apparent to all, the interval between the lightning and the hearing of the thunder depending on the distance. Lucretius, who has referred to the same fact, compares this with what occurs when a woodman is seen at a distance to wield an axe. The glance of the axe is seen long before the sound of the blow is heard:

Sed tonitrum fit uti post antibus accipiamus,

Fulgere quam cernunt ocuil, quia semper ad aures

Tardius adveniunt, quam visum, guam moveant res.

Nunc etiam licet id cognoscere, caedere si quem

Ancipiti videas ferro procul arboris actum.

Ante fit, ut cernas ictum, quam plaga per aures

Det sonitum: Sic fulgorem quoque cernimus ante.

Lib. vi.

He thundereth with the voice of his excellency - That is, with a voice of majesty and grandeur.

And he will not stay them - That is, he will not hold back the rain, hail, and other things which accompany the storm, when he begins to thunder. “Rosenmuller.” Or, according to others, he will not hold back and restrain the lightnings when the thunder commences. But the connection seems rather to demand that we should understand it of the usual accompaniments of a storm - the wind, hail, rain, etc. Herder renders it, “We cannot explore his thunderings.” Prof. Lee, “And none can trace them, though their voice be heard.” According to him, the meaning is, that “great and terrific as this exhibition of God’s power is, still the progress of these, his ministers, cannot be followed by the mortal eye.” But the usual interpretation given to the Hebrew word is that of “holding back,” or “retarding,” and this idea accords well with the connection.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 37:4. After it a voice roareth — After the flash has been seen, the peal is heard; and this will be more or fewer seconds after the peal, in proportion to the distance of the thunder cloud from the ear. Lightning traverses any space without any perceivable succession of time; nothing seems to be any obstacle to its progress. A multitude of persons taking hands, the first and the last connected with the electric machine, all feel the shock in the same instant; and were there a chain as conductor to go round the globe, the last would feel the shock in the same moment as the first. But as sound depends on the undulations of the air for its propagation, and is known to travel at the rate of only 1142 feet in a second; consequently, if the flash were only 1142 feet from the spectator, it would be seen in one second, or one swing of the pendulum, before the sound could reach the ear, though the clap and the flash take place in the same instant, and if twice this distance, two seconds, and so on. It is of some consequence to know that lightning, at a considerable distance, suppose six or eight seconds of time, is never known to burn, kill or do injury. When the flash and the clap immediately succeed each other, then there is strong ground for apprehension, as the thunder cloud is near. If the thunder cloud be a mile and a half distant, it is, I believe, never known to kill man or beast, or to do any damage to buildings, either by throwing them down or burning them. Now its distance may be easily known by means of a pendulum clock, or watch that has seconds. When the flash is seen, count the seconds till the clap is heard. Then compute: If only one second is counted, then the thunder cloud is within 1142 feet, or about 380 yards; if two seconds, then its distance is 2284 feet, or 761 yards; if three seconds, then 3426 feet, or 1142 yards; if four seconds, then the cloud is distant 4568 feet, or 1522 yards; if five seconds, then the distance is 5710 feet, or 1903 yards; if six seconds, then the distance is 6852 feet, or 2284 yards, one mile and nearly one-third; if seven seconds, then the distance of the cloud is 7994 feet, or 2665 yards, or one mile and a half, and 25 yards. Beyond this distance lightning has not been known to do any damage, the fluid being too much diffused, and partially absorbed, in its passage over electric bodies, i.e., those which are not fully impregnated by the electric matter, and which receive their full charge when they come within the electric attraction of the lightning. For more on the rain produced by thunder storms, see on Job 38:25. This scale may be carried on at pleasure, by adding to the last sum for every second 1142 feet, and reducing to yards and miles as above, allowing 1760 yards to one mile.

He thundereth with the voice of his excellency — גאונו geono, of his majesty: nor is there a sound in nature more descriptive of, or more becoming, the majesty of God, than that of THUNDER. We hear the breeze in its rustling, the rain in its pattering, the hail in its rattling, the wind in its hollow howlings, the cataract in its dash, the bull in his bellowing, the lion in his roar; but we hear GOD, the Almighty, the Omnipresent, in the continuous peal of THUNDER! This sound, and this sound only, becomes the majesty of Jehovah.

And he will not stay them — ולא יעקבם velo yeahkebem, and he hath not limited or circumscribed them. His lightnings light the world; literally, the whole world. The electric fluid is diffused through all nature, and everywhere art can exhibit it to view. To his thunder and lightning, therefore, he has assigned no limits. And when his voice soundeth, when the lightning goes forth, who shall assign its limits, and who can stop its progress? It is, like God, IRRESISTIBLE.


 
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