Verse 4
4. After it a voice roareth The words of Lucretius furnish a good comment:
The flash first strikes the eye, and then we hear
The clap, which does more slowly reach the ear. 6:164, 165.
Compare Psalms 29:0, where the word voice also frequently appears.
The voice of his excellency Of his majesty: nor is there a sound in nature more descriptive of, or more becoming, the majesty of God, than that of thunder, says Dr. Clarke, who gives here a dissertation on lightning.
He will not stay them That is, the lightnings. Elihu paints with vivid colours the approaching thunder-storm. The lightnings become more vivid and frequent, flashing even unto the ends of the earth; the thunder follows more closely upon the flash, “after it a voice roareth!” and then we have the matchless swiftness of the lightning so swift that none but God could “slay them.” The exclamations of astonishment and alarm, intermingling with the lightning flashes, point to a scene actually present to the senses.
Be the first to react on this!
