Job 37:3-4 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 37:1-5

Thunder and lightning, which usually go together, are sensible indications of the glory and majesty, the power and terror, of Almighty God, one to the ear and the other to the eye; in these God leaves not himself without witness of his greatness, as, in the rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, he leaves not himself without witness of his goodness (Acts 14:17), even to the most stupid and unthinking. Though there are natural causes and useful effects of them, which the philosophers undertake... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 37:3

He directeth it under the whole heaven ,.... His voice of thunder, which rolls from one end of the heaven to the other: he charges the clouds with it, and directs both it and them where they shall go and discharge; what tree, house, or man, it shall strike; and where the rain shall fall when the clouds burst: yet Pliny F24 Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 43. atheistically calls thunder and lightning chance matters. Thus the ministers of the word, who are compared to clouds, Isaiah 5:6 , are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 37:4

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 F25 Senec. Nat. Quaest. l. 2. c. 12. so Aristot.... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 37:3

He directeth it under the whole heaven - He directeth it (the lightning) under the whole heaven, in the twinkling of an eye from east to west; and its light - the reflection of the flash, not the lightning, unto the ends of the earth, so that a whole hemisphere seems to see it at the same instant. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:1-5

The voice of the thunder. I. A VOICE OF TERROR . The deep roar, the wide volume of sound, the mystery and the majesty of the thunder, combine to make it strike us with awe. Thunder accompanied the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai ( Exodus 19:16 ). Men are naturally alarmed at any voice from heaven. God sometimes speaks to us in thunderous notes, i.e. through great calamities. Then we tremble as before an irresistible majesty. II. A VOICE OF NATURE . The thunder is part... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:1-24

It has been already remarked that there is no natural division between Job 36:1-33 and Job 37:1-24 .—the description of the thunderstorm and its effects runs on. From its effect on cattle, Elihu passes to its effect on man ( Job 37:1-5 ); and thence goes on to speak of other natural manifestations of God's power and marvellousness—snow, violent rain, whirlwind, frost, and the like ( Job 37:6-13 ). He then makes a final appeal to Job to acknowledge his own weakness and God's... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:1-24

Elihu to Job: 5. The wonderful works of God. I. WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR VARIETY . Beginning with the thunderstorm (verse 2), with its quickly spreading clouds ( Job 36:29 ), its sharp, gleaming bolts (verse 3), its crashing and reverberating peals (verse 4), Elihu passes on to descant upon other natural phenomena—such as the falling of the snow and the rain upon the earth (verse 6); the sweeping of the whirlwind, or hot simoom, from the remote regions of the southern... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:3

He directeth it under the whole heaven . The reverberations of the thunderclap roll along the entire cloud-canopy, from one end of the heavens to the other, beginning often faint in the distance, then growing loud over our heads, finally sinking into low muttered rumblings on the far horizon. And his lightning unto the ends of the earth . Similarly, the lightning, though originating in a flash at some definite spot, sets the whole sky aglow, shining from side to side of the heavens, and,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:4

After it a voice roareth . After the lightning-flash has been seen, the thunderclap comes. In their origin they are simultaneous; but, as light travels faster than sound, unless we are close to the flash, then is an interval, the thunder following on the lightning . He thundereth with the voice of his excellency (see the comment on Job 37:2 ). And he will not stay them when his voice is heard . The words are plain, but the meaning is obscure. What will not God stay? His lightnings?... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 37:1-5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 37:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 37:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 37:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 37:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:1-24

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:1-24

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 37:4

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