Psalms 77:18

Psa 77:18 The voice of thy thunder [was] in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.

Ver. 18. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven] Heb. in the sphere or round orb of the air. Of the thunder in the air, see Job 37:2-5 Psa 29:1-11 This made the Egyptians say, Let us flee, for God fighteth for Israel against us.

The lightnings lightened the world] Such flakes of fire there were with flashes of lightning, as darkened the sun, and made the whole heaven seem to be on a light fire.

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.

19. (Psa 77:18). The voice of thy thunder (was) in the whirlwind; lightnings made the world shine; (then) shook and quaked the earth. The word trans-lated whirlwind usually means a wheel, but is sometimes applied to anything whirled or driven round before the wind. See below, on Psa 83:13, and compare Isa 17:13. Hence it may naturally be employed to designate the whirlwind itself as the cause of this rotary motion. This is surely more agreeable to usage than to make it descriptive of mere swiftness or velocity. The common version, in the heaven, if not entirely arbitrary, must rest upon a supposed allusion to the convex appearance of the heavens. Made to shine, illuminated, lighted up. There is, however, no affinity between the Hebrew word and that for lightnings. The whole description is remarkably like that of the theophany in Psalms 18. See also Hab 3:14.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(18) In the heavens.—Literally, in the vault. The Hebrew, galgal, from gâlal, “to roll,” has the same derivation as “vault” (volutum, from volvo). It is strange that this rendering, which so well suits the parallelism, should have been set aside by modern scholars in favour of “whirlwind” or “rolling chariot wheels.” The LXX. and Vulg. have “wheel,” but possibly with reference to the apparent revolution of the sky. The word, where it occurs in Isa_17:13, means something rolled by the whirlwind, not the whirlwind itself.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. in the heaven] The word galgal, derived from a root meaning to roll, was understood by the Jewish commentators to mean the vault or circuit of the heaven. More probably it should be rendered in the whirlwind (R.V.), or, with rumbling, the rolling of the thunder being conceived of as the rolling of God’s chariot-wheels. Cp. Hab_3:8.

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.

The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven,.... Thunder is the voice of God, Job 37:5 this is heard in "the orb" (b), or the air, so called, because spherical; the Targum is

"the voice of thy thunder was heard in the wheel;''

so the word here used sometimes signifies; so Eze 10:13, and is so rendered here by some (c); some think this refers to the wheels of the chariots of the Egyptians, which were taken off, it may be by the force of thunder and lightning, so that they drove on heavily, Exo 14:25,

the lightnings lightened the world; not only that part of the world where the Israelites and Egyptians were, but the whole world; for lightning comes out of the east, and shines to the west, Mat 24:27, this was in the night, and a very dark night it was, as Josephus (d) affirms; see Psa 97:4,

the earth trembled and shook; there was an earthquake at the same time; unless this is to be understood of the panic which the inhabitants of the earth were put into on hearing of this wonderful event, Jos 2:9.

(b) "in rotunditate", Montanus, Vatablus; "in isto orbe", Junius & Tremeullis; "in orbe", Cocceius; "in sphaera", Arab. (c) "In rota", Pagninus, Tigurine version, Musculus, Gejerus; "in rotis", Muis, Syr. vid. Suidam in voce (d) Ut supra. (Antiq. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 3.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven - Compare the notes at Psa 29:1-11. The word rendered “heaven” here - גלגל galgal - means properly “a wheel,” as of a chariot, Isa 5:28; Eze 10:2, Eze 10:6; Eze 23:24; Eze 26:10. Then it means a “whirlwind,” as that which rolls along, Eze 10:13. Then it is used to denote chaff or stubble, as driven along before a whirlwind, Psa 83:13; Isa 17:13. It is never used to denote heaven. It means here, undoubtedly, the whirlwind; and the idea is, that in the ragings of the storm, or of the whirlwind, the voice of God was heard - the deep bellowing thunder - as if God spoke to people.

The lightnings lightened the world - The whole earth seemed to be in a blaze.

The earth trembled and shook - See the notes at Psa 29:1-11.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This tempest is not particularly recorded in its proper place, yet it may well be gathered from what is said Exo 14:24,25, and is in effect acknowledged by Josephus in his history. And this is no new thing in Scripture, for some circumstances of history omitted in the first and properest places to be supplied in following passages; whereof instances have been already given.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 18. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven, or in the whirlwind. Rushing on with terrific swiftness and bearing all before it, the storm was as a chariot driven furiously, and a voice was heard (even thy voice, O Lord!) out of the fiery car, even as when a mighty man in battle urges forward his charger, and shouts to it aloud. All heaven resounded with the voice of the Lord.

The lightnings lightened the world. The entire globe shone in the blaze of Jehovah's lightnings. No need for other light amid the battle of that terrible night, every wave gleamed in the fire flashes, and the shore was lit up with the blaze. How pale were men's faces in that hour, when all around the fire leaped from sea to shore, from crag to hill, from mountain to star, till the whole universe was illuminated in honour of Jehovah's triumph.

The earth trembled and shook. It quaked and quaked again. Sympathetic with the sea, the solid shore forgot its quiescence and heaved in dread. How dreadful art thou, O God, when thou comest forth in thy majesty to humble thine arrogant adversaries.

Whole Psalm. Whenever, and by whomsoever, the Psalm may have been written, it clearly is individual, not national. It utterly destroys all the beauty, all the tenderness and depth of feeling in the opening portion, if we suppose that the people are introduced speaking in the first person. The allusions to the national history may indeed show that the season was a season of national distress, and that the sweet singer was himself bowed down by the burden of the time, and oppressed by woes which he had no power to alleviate; but it is his own sorrow, not the sorrow of others under which he sighs, and of which he has left the pathetic record. J. J. Stewart Perowne.

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. Earth trembled and shook—A description of an earthquake, which associates literally with Sinai, not the Red Sea. See Exo_19:18; Exo_20:18; Heb_12:18-19

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The voice of thy thunder was in the heavens; rather, in the whirlwind (Kay, Cheyne, Revised Version). A storm of wind usually accompanies thunder and lightning. This the author, with poetical exaggeration, heightens into a "whirlwind". (comp. Psa_83:13 Isa_17:13) The lightnings lightened the world. More hyperbole. Not only did they "go abroad" (ver. 17), darting hither and thither, but their intense brightness illuminated the whole earth. The earth trembled and shook. Through the reverberation of air, the earth seems to shake in a heavy thunderstorm.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

thunderous voice

This is personification, referring to the thunder as the voice of God. AT: "voice, which was as loud as thunder" or "very loud voice" (See: Personification)

lightning lit up the world

This is an exaggeration to emphasize that the lightning lit up everything the writer could see. AT: "lightning lit up everything as far as you could see" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

Your path ... your way

These two phrases have similar meanings and are combined for emphasis. (See: Doublet)

your footprints

Asaph is speaking of Yahweh as if Yahweh was a person with feet. While this is personification, it should be translated literally, if possible. (See: Personification)

your footprints were not seen

This can be stated in active form. AT: "no one saw your footprints" (See: Active or Passive)

You led your people like a flock

This simile compares God's people to a flock of animals. (See: Simile)

by the hand of

The phrase "by the hand of" here means "by the action of" or "through the action of."

hand

Here "hand" is synechdoche for the whole person. (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

voice

world

earth

water

flocks

hand

Moses

Aaron

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

They poured forth thick waters The skies poured forth a stream of thick waters.

Your arrows Heb. חצציך, like חִצֶיךָ.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.