Yahweh also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire.
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The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
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(18-14) The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave forth His voice; hailstones and coals of fire.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Psalms 18:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 104:7 At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.
- 1 Samuel 7:10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines came near to battle against Israel; but Yahweh thundered with a great thunder on that day on the Philistines, and confused them; and they were struck down before Israel.
- Psalms 29:3-4 Yahweh’s voice is on the waters. The God of glory thunders, even Yahweh on many waters. Yahweh’s voice is powerful. Yahweh’s voice is full of majesty.
- Psalms 140:10 Let burning coals fall on them. Let them be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, from where they never rise.
- Exodus 20:18 All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.
- Deuteronomy 32:24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
- Job 40:9 Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?
- Psalms 78:48 He gave over their livestock also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
- Psalms 120:3-4 What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
- Ezekiel 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
- Habakkuk 3:5 Plague went before him, and pestilence followed his feet.
- John 12:29 Therefore the multitude who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
- Revelation 4:5 Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
- Revelation 8:5 The angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, then threw it on the earth. Thunders, sounds, lightnings, and an earthquake followed.
- Revelation 19:6 I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 13. Jehovah thundered. David here repeats the same thing…
13. Jehovah thundered. David here repeats the same thing in different words, declaring that God thundered from heaven; and he calls the thunder the yoke of God, that we may not suppose it is produced merely by chance or by natural causes, independent of the appointment and will of God. Philosophers, it is true, are well acquainted with the intermediate or secondary causes, from which the thunder proceeds, namely, that when the cold and humid vapours obstruct the dry and hot exhalations in their course upwards, a collision takes place, and by this, together with the noise of the clouds rushing against each other, is produced the rumbling thunder-peal. “De ce combat et aussi du bruit des nuees allans l’une contre l’autre, se fait un son.” — Fr.
“Et tardifs a reconnaistre la vertu de Dieu.” — Fr.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Thundered, lightninged and hailed.
Thundered, lightninged and hailed.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens,…
Psa 18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail [stones] and coals of fire.
Ver. 13. The Lord also thundered in the heavens] Quasi pro classico, et auspicio proelii ineundi.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Lord also thundered, to wit, against my adversaries.…
The Lord also thundered, to wit, against my adversaries. Thunder is a sign of God’s anger, 1Sa 2:10; 7:10.
His voice, i.e. thunder, oft so called. The same thing expressed in other words.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Yea, he sent out his arrows,.... By which thunderbolts,…
Yea, he sent out his arrows,.... By which thunderbolts, cracks of thunder, and flashes of lightning, seem to be meant; see Psa 77:17; comparable to arrows shot, and sent out of a bow; and may denote, either the doctrines of the Gospel, which were sharp in the hearts of Christ's enemies, and are either the means of subduing them to him, or of destroying them, being the savour of death unto death; or however, like arrows, give great pain and uneasiness where they stick, and grievously distress and torment; as does the fire which comes out of the mouth of the two witnesses, Rev 11:5. The Targum is,
"he sent his word as arrows;''
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or else the judgments of God are meant, as famine, pestilence, and the sword, which God sent unto, and spent upon the Jewish nation, Deu 32:23;
and scattered them; among the nations of the world, where they have been dispersed ever since;
and he shot out lightnings; or "many lightnings", so the Targum:
and discomfited them; troubled, terrified, and distressed them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. The Lord also thundered in the heavens,…
Verse 13. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice] And then followed the hail and coals of fire. The former verse mentioned the lightning, with its effects; this gives us the report of the thunder, and the increasing storm of hail and fire that attended it. Some think the words hail-stones and coals of fire are entered here by some careless transcribers from the preceding verse; and it is true that they are wanting in the Septuagint and the Arabic, in the parallel place in 2 Samuel, and in five of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. I should rather, with Bishop Horsley, suppose them to be an interpolation in the preceding verse: or in that to have been borrowed from this; for this most certainly is their true place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 18:13-14. The Lord also thundered, &c. — The…
Psa 18:13-14. The Lord also thundered, &c. — The preceding verse mentioned the lightning with its effects; this gives us the report of the thunder, and the increasing storm of hail and fire that attended it. Yea, he sent out his arrows — Namely, lightnings, as it is expressed in the next clause; and scattered them — Namely, mine enemies, which is sufficiently understood from Psa 18:3; Psa 18:17, and from the whole context. Thus magnificently does the psalmist describe the discharge of the celestial artillery upon God’s enemies. Terrible was the execution of the divine vengeance upon them, “as when lightnings and thunders, hail-stones and balls of fire, making their way through the dark clouds which contain them, strike terror and dismay into the hearts of men. Such is the voice, and such are the arrows of the Lord Almighty, wherewith he discomfiteth all who oppose the execution of his counsels, and obstruct the salvation of his chosen. Every display and description of this sort, and indeed every thunder-storm which we behold, should remind us of that exhibition of power and vengeance which is hereafter to accompany the general resurrection.” — Horne.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The Lord also thundered in the heavens - Thunder…
The Lord also thundered in the heavens - Thunder is often in the Scriptures described as the voice of God. See the magnificent description in Psa 29:1-11; compare Job 40:9, “Canst thou thunder with a voice like him?” So 1Sa 7:10; 1Sa 12:18; Psa 77:18; Job 37:4.
And the Highest gave his voice - God, the most exalted Being in the universe, uttered his voice in the thunder; or, the thunder was his voice.
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Hail-stones, and coals of fire - Accompanying the thunder. The repetition seems to be because these were such striking and constant accompaniments of the storm.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The storm breaks forth--thunder follows lightning, and hail with…
The storm breaks forth--thunder follows lightning, and hail with repeated lightning, as often seen, like balls or coals of fire, succeed (Exo 9:23).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. The Lord also thundered… Highest gave his voice—This…
13. The Lord also thundered… Highest gave his voice—This was the word of command to the elements to discharge their burden of wrath upon his enemies.
Hail… and coals of fire—The allusion is to Exo_9:24; Jos_10:11. Compare “hot thunderbolts,” Psa_78:48; on which see note.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. and the Highest &c.] R.V., and the Most…
13. and the Highest &c.] R.V., and the Most High uttered his voice. The Most High is the title of God as the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. See Psa_7:17; and Appendix, Note II. Thunder is the voice of God. See Psa_29:3; Job_37:2-5. The words hailstones and coals of fire have no proper grammatical construction, and are wanting in the LXX and in 2 Sam. They seem to have been added here from Psa_18:12 by an error of transcription.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) In the heavens.—The version in Samuel is from…
(13) In the heavens.—The version in Samuel is from the heavens,” which is better. For the thunder as God’s voice see Psa_29:3, and Note.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the…
The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice. With the lightning came, necessarily, thunder, rolling along the heavens, and seeming like the voice of God.Hail (comp. Job_38:4, Job_38:5) stones and coals of fire. The phrase is repeated for the sake of emphasis. The hail and the lightning are represented as conjointly the ministers of the Divine vengeance.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 13. Over all this splendour of tempest pealed…
Ver. 13. Over all this splendour of tempest pealed the dread thunder.
The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice. Fit accompaniment for the flames of vengeance. How will men bear to hear it at the last when addressed to them in proclamation of their doom, for even now their hearts are in their mouths if they do but hear it muttering from afar? In all this terror David found a theme for song, and thus every believer finds even in the terrors of God a subject for holy praise.
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Hailstones and coals of fire are twice mentioned to show how certainly they are in the divine hand, and are the weapons of Heaven's vengeance. Horne remarks that "every thunderstorm should remind us of that exhibition of power and vengeance, which is hereafter to accompany the general resurrection; "may it not also assure us of the real power of him who is our Father and our friend, and tend to assure us of our safety while he fights our battles for us. The prince of the power of the air is soon dislodged when the cherubic chariot is driven through his dominions; therefore let not the legions of hell cause us dismay. He who is with us is greater than all they that be against us.
Ver. 13. Hailstones and coals of fire. The terrific in its relation to Jehovah.
Psalms 18:14*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The Lord also thundered in the heavens.
Psa_18:13
The Lord also thundered in the heavens.
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The terrors of an Eastern thunderstorm
There is said to be something peculiarly terrific in an Oriental thunderstorm. Its vivid lightning and intense darkness, succeeding each other with startling rapidity, are appalling. This is indicated in the words, at the brightness that was before Him, His thick clouds passed; that is, passed away. So intense is the light of the lightnings flash that the whole mass of dark clouds seems to pass away, and their place to be occupied for an instant by a mass of solid light, shedding its beams over everything upon the earth like a midday sun. The light, however, is only for an instant--and then a darkness, that may be felt, shuts up the whole from every vision but His, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike. Meanwhile the roar of the thunder, the voice of the Most High in the clouds, is incessant; the lightnings flashing from cloud to cloud, from the clouds to the earth, and from the earth back again to the clouds. Moreover, it seems as if He who measureth the waters in the hollow of His hand had poured them out, for the rain descends in torrents, mingled at times with destructive hail, while coals of fire--balls of meteoric flame--run along the ground (Exo_9:23). (David Caldwell, A. M.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Yahweh thundered in the heavens
Yahweh thundered in the heavens
Yahweh's voice sounded like thunder. (See: Simile)
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the Most High
"the Most High" refers to Yahweh.
He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies ... lightning bolts dispersed them
Both of these clauses have similar meanings. (See: Parallelism)
He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies
Here lighting strikes are being spoken of as if they were arrows (See: Metaphor)
dispersed them
"sent them in different directions"
translationWords
Most High
send
bow and arrow
disperse
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.