Job 37:2-3

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 37:2

Hear attentively the noise of his voice ,.... Of the voice of God in the clouds; and of thunder, which is his voice, Job 40:9 . Elihu being affected with it himself, exhorts the company about him to hearken and listen to it, and learn something from it; and the sound that goeth out of his mouth : as the former clause may have respect to loud thunder, a more violent crack or clap of it; so this may intend some lesser whispers and murmurs of it at a distance; or a rumbling noise in the... 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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 37:2

Hear attentively - " Hear with hearing." The words seem to intimate that there was actually at that time a violent storm of thunder and lightning, and that the successive peals were now breaking over the house, and the lightning flashing before their eyes. The storm continued till Elihu had finished, and out of that storm the Almighty spoke. See the beginning of the succeeding chapter, Job 38 (note). The noise of his voice - The sudden clap. And the sound that goeth out - The peal or... 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

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 37:2

Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth ; or, Hearken ye , hearken ye to the noise of his voice (comp. Psalms 77:18 : Psalms 104:7 ; and below, Psalms 104:4 , Psalms 104:5 ). We need not suppose Elihu to speak otherwise than poetically. He does not, like the Indian of " … untutored mind, See God in clouds or hear him in the wind." He does not mean that the thunder is actually God's voice, but that it tells of him, reminds of him,... 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

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