THUNDER

The loud sound that follows a flash of lightning. Thunder is caused by the sudden expansion of air that has been heated by such electrical discharge, the air violently moving away from the lightning’s path and then back again behind it.—Job 28:26; 38:25.

The Hebrew word ra·ʽamʹ means “to rage, to roar, to thunder” and is at times mentioned in connection with Jehovah (1 Sam. 2:10; 2 Sam. 22:14; Ps. 18:13), the One who has on occasion employed thunder to accomplish his will. For example, in the time of Samuel, Jehovah threw the Philistines into confusion by means of thunder. (1 Sam. 7:10; compare Isaiah 29:6.) Another Hebrew word, qohl, sometimes translated “thunder” (1 Sam. 12:17, 18), basically means “to call” or “to sound, to say.” This term, depending on the context, may also be rendered “sound” (Ex. 28:34, 35; 1 Sam. 15:14; 2 Sam. 6:15) or “voice.”—Deut. 21:18; 1 Ki. 19:12.

The awesome sound of thunder is associated with Jehovah’s voice. (Job 37:4, 5; 40:9; Ps. 29:3-9) When certain Jews heard Jehovah speak from heaven to Jesus, there was a difference of opinion as to whether the sound was thunder or the voice of an angel. (John 12:28, 29; compare Revelation 6:1; 14:2; 19:6.) The sound of thunder often being an advance indication of an approaching storm, “thunders” can designate divine warnings, as at Revelation 8:5; 10:3, 4; 16:18.

To the Jews at the foot of Mount Sinai, the thunder that they heard was a manifestation of God’s presence. (Ex. 19:16; compare Revelation 4:5; 11:19.) Either this event or God’s leading Israel by means of a pillar of cloud (a place of thunder) may be alluded to by the psalmist’s words: “I [Jehovah] began to answer you in the concealed place of thunder.”—Ps. 81:7.