The Voice of Thunder

One of our favorite pastimes as a family is watching thunderstorms together. While living in Central Texas the 11 plus years that we did, we regularly saw impressive weather fronts roll through our region during the spring and fall months. Even our young children would go outside with us to either the back patio area or under the front door awning (depending on the direction the thunderstorm was approaching from) to storm watch… at least until the lighting got too close or the rain and hail became too heavy. Then we’d retreat to the living room and continue watching from inside the house. Since childhood I’ve viewed lightening and the ensuing thunder as examples of “all things (which) denote there is a God” and “witness that there is a Supreme Creator.” (See Alma 30:44)

The Hebrew word for thunder that’s used in the Old Testament, קוֹל kohl, has a number of additional meanings, including voice, sound, and noise. In Modern Hebrew some of these meanings have been partitioned out and are now represented by words other than kohl. Such is the case with thunder, which is now mostly translated as רַעַם RAH’ahm. One of my favorite descriptive references to thunder from the Old Testament, because of its religious overtones, is found in Exodus 9:28.

“Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.”

The expression “mighty thunderings” is a loose translation of the theologically based Hebrew phrase קֹלֹת אֱלֹהִים koh-LOHT eh-loh-HEEM, which literally means “voice(s) of God.” This connection between the sound (voice) of thunder and the voice of God appears throughout the Old Testament, the Book of Mormon, and even the Doctrine and Covenants. The following references make up only a partial list of scriptures that show the linkage.

“…what will ye say when the day cometh when the thunders shall utter their voices from the ends of the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying—Repent, and prepare for the great day of the Lord? …lightnings shall streak forth from the east unto the west, and shall utter forth their voices unto all that live, and make the ears of all tingle that hear, saying these words—Repent ye, for the great day of the Lord is come? How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings…” (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 43:21-25, excerpts with emphasis added) 

“Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.” (Alma 29:2-3)

The above Book of Mormon reference is especially interesting to me since the Hebrew language link between thunder and the phrase “voice of God” seems to come into play here. The prophet Alma back-pedals from his original statement “I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder…” because he apparently feels his aspiration is presumptuous. His subsequent admission “I am a man, and do sin in my wish” implies that even in his unique Semitic-origin language, declaring something “as with the voice of thunder” was equivalent to speaking with the authority and voice of God. As if to emphasize this point, the prophet's second statement contrasts the power of God with his own human weakness.

The following are other Book of Mormon references:

“Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.” (1 Nephi 17:45)

“And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.” (Alma 36:7)“But behold, the Lord in his great mercy sent his angel to declare unto me that I must stop the work of destruction among his people; yea, and I have seen an angel face to face, and he spake with me, and his voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth.” (Alma 38:7)

“And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood.” (Mosiah 27:11)

I’ll end my post on this topic with another example of Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon. There’s an idiomatic phrase found in the book of 3 Nephi that uses the traditional Biblical Hebrew-origin meaning of קוֹל kohl (thunder, voice, sound, and noise), demonstrating in this case the specific linkage between noise and voice.

“And it was noised abroad among the people immediately, before it was yet dark, that the multitude had seen Jesus, and that he had ministered unto them, and that he would also show himself on the morrow unto the multitude. Yea, and even all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus; and insomuch did they send forth unto the people that there were many, yea, an exceedingly great number, did labor exceedingly all that night, that they might be on the morrow in the place where Jesus should show himself unto the multitude.” (3 Nephi 19:2-3)

The figure of speech “noised abroad” used here is related to kohl in that the people voiced or communicated with others the events that had taken place.