Job 37:5 · Bible study
Job 37:5 Commentary: God's Thunder
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Job 37:5 declares God's voice is marvelous and His works beyond comprehension.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The thunder demonstrates God's awesome power, and His great works surpass human understanding.
- Key words: “thunders” (ra'am), to thunder/rage; “marvelously” (nifla'ot), wonders/extraordinary acts; “comprehend” (yada), experiential knowledge.
- Main debate: Minimal; commentators agree the verse teaches God's majesty and human limitation.
- Theological theme: God's transcendence and immanence; revelation through nature; human epistemic humility.
- Best use: In sermons or discussions about God's sovereignty, suffering, and the limits of human reason.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things we cannot comprehend.
WEB World English Bible 2000
God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can’t comprehend.
KJV King James Version 1769
God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
God thundereth marvellously with his voice; Great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
God thundereth with His voice wonderfully, Doing great things and we know not.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
God thundereth marvellously with his voice, doing great things which we do not comprehend.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
God shall thunder wonderfully with his voice, he that doth great and unsearchable things.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Tronará Dios maravillosamente con su voz; él hace grandes cosas, que nosotros no entendemos.
Deus troveja maravilhosamente com sua voz; ele faz coisas tão grandes que nós não compreendemos.
Dieu tonne avec sa voix d’ une manière merveilleuse;
Gott donnert mit seinem Donner wunderbar und tut große Dinge und wird doch nicht erkannt.
God dondert met Zijn stem zeer wonderlijk; Hij doet grote dingen, en wij begrijpen ze niet.
Iddio tuona con la sua voce maravigliosamente; grandi cose egli fa che noi non intendiamo.
Bo mówi do śniegu: Padaj na ziemię; także i do deszczu wolnego, i do deszczu gwałtownego.
Дивно гремит Бог гласом Своим, делает дела великие, для нас непостижимые.
神 發出 奇妙的 雷聲；他行 大事，我們不能 測透。
He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 37:5
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Job 37:5 closes Elihu's description of the thunderstorm with a declaration of God's majesty and the limits of human understanding. Adam Clarke marks this verse as the conclusion of the lightning and thunder section, with "great things" beginning a new paragraph on other incomprehensible phenomena. Barnes notes that the storm's sublimity lies precisely in the recognition that God is present throughout, "riding on the tempest and directing the storm as he pleases." Gill connects the marvels of thunder (splitting rocks, shattering trees) to the power of the Gospel, while Keil and Delitzsch observe that the Hebrew nifla'ot functions as an adverb, and the phrase "we do not know" (lo neda) indicates that God's acts transcend our grasp of cause and effect. The consensus is clear: the thunder reveals God's awesome voice, and the great works he does are beyond full human comprehension.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse clearly teaches that God's voice in thunder is wonderful and His great works exceed human understanding. This truth is not disputed among interpreters.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The thunder as God's voice | All commentators see the thunder as a direct manifestation of God's power and majesty; it reveals his presence and calls for awe. | Some interpret the thunder as a literal theophany (God's actual voice), while others see it as a poetic personification of natural phenomena. Both sides affirm God's sovereignty in the storm. |
| Human comprehension of God's works | The verse clearly states that God's great works are beyond full human understanding. All traditions agree that human knowledge of God's ways is limited. | There is a spectrum: some emphasize that we can know nothing of God's purposes (total incomprehensibility), while others hold that we can know truly but not exhaustively (partial knowledge through analogy and revelation). |
Historical & Cultural Context
Elihu's final speech (Job 36, 37) aims to defend God's justice and wisdom. Having argued that God disciplines the proud and rewards the humble, he turns to nature to show that God's power is too vast for any human to fully grasp. The storm in Job 37:1, 5 appears to be unfolding as Elihu speaks, his heart trembles, and he urges his listeners to "hear attentively the noise of his voice" (v. 2). This immediacy suggests that a real thunderstorm is providing the backdrop for his words, and it functions as a dramatic prelude to God's own speech from the whirlwind in chapter 38.
In the ancient Near East, thunder was regularly associated with divine presence. Canaanite mythology portrayed Baal as the storm god who rode the clouds and spoke in thunder. Israel's poets used the same imagery for Yahweh, but with a crucial difference: the thunder was not a sign of a capricious deity but of the one true God's sovereign rule. Psalm 29, with its sevenfold repetition of "the voice of the LORD," echoes the same pattern. Elihu's description may be the earliest recorded poetic treatment of a thunderstorm (Barnes). The cross-references within Job itself, 5:9, 9:10, 26:14, establish a continuous theme: God does great things that cannot be fathomed. The language of "marvelous things" (nifla'ot) ties this verse to those earlier confessions.
The storm serves both as a theophany and as a rhetorical bridge. It forces Job and his friends to confront a God who acts in ways they cannot predict or control. At the same time, it prepares the way for God's own appearance, where he will question Job about the foundations of the earth and the boundaries of the sea. Elihu's thunder is thus a preview of the answer God himself will give: not an explanation of suffering, but a revelation of his own incomprehensible greatness.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Job 37:5. The verse is stable across Hebrew manuscripts and ancient translations, with no dispute over its wording.
Reception History
Throughout church history, Job 37:5 has been used to highlight God's sovereign power in nature and the proper human response of awe. Early church teachers, including Gregory the Great in his Moralia on Job, saw the thunder as representing God's voice in judgment and preaching. The Reformers often cited this verse to counter human pride in reason, emphasizing that even the greatest minds cannot fully grasp God's ways. In devotional literature, it has been paired with Psalm 29 to show the glory of God in the storm. Modern readers continue to find in this verse a call to humility before a God whose works are marvelous and beyond full knowing.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Voice That Commands Awe. God's thunder is not mere noise but a marvel (nifla'ot). It demands attention and reverence. The storm in Job 37 is not just meteorological, it is a direct communication from the Creator.
- The Hand That Does Great Things. God is actively doing (oseh) great works. Every storm, every weather pattern, every act of nature is his doing. He is not a distant observer but intimately involved.
- The Mind That Reaches Its Limit. "We cannot know" (lo neda). Our understanding stops at the threshold of God's ways. This is not an invitation to ignorance but to humility and worship.
Five-point outline
- The Thunder Is Marvelous. Beyond natural explanation, it points to the Creator who is present in the storm.
- God's Voice Is Active. He speaks, and creation responds. The thunder is his voice, and it accomplishes his purposes.
- Great Works Are Everywhere. Not just thunder but all of nature testifies to his power and wisdom.
- Human Knowledge Has Boundaries. We cannot trace cause and effect fully. Science can describe, but it cannot exhaust what God is doing.
- This Leads to Worship. The proper response is awe and trust, not argument or complaint.
Illustration hooks
- Standing outside during a severe thunderstorm, feeling the ground shake and seeing lightning split the sky. The sheer power makes you feel small and vulnerable.
- Trying to predict weather with all our technology, yet still being caught off guard by a sudden storm. Nature remains beyond our control.
- A child asking why thunder happens, we can explain physics, but the deeper "why" leads to God's sovereignty.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God is so powerful and does great things, why doesn't He stop suffering?
- How can I trust a God whose ways I don't understand?
- Does the thunder mean God is angry with me?
Leading a Discussion
Job 37:5 sits at the heart of a passage that uses a thunderstorm to teach about God. The verse makes two points: God's voice is marvelous, and his great works are beyond our comprehension. This small-group guide helps you explore what it means to know a God who reveals himself yet remains mysterious.
Discussion questions
- What images or feelings come to mind when you read about God thundering?
- Why do you think Elihu mentions the thunderstorm right before God speaks in chapter 38?
- The word "marvelously" (nifla'ot) can also mean "extraordinary" or "wonderful." How does that expand your understanding of God's voice?
- In what ways does nature show us both God's greatness and our limits?
- The verse says we cannot comprehend God's great things. Does that frustrate you, or comfort you? Why?
- How does the reality of limited knowledge change the way you pray or trust God?
- Job eventually hears God from the whirlwind. How does preparing your heart with humility open you to hear God better?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| II Samuel 22:14 | Yahweh thundered from heaven. The Most High uttered his voice. |
| II Samuel 22:15 | He sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning and confused them. |
| Job 5:9 | who does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number; |
| Job 9:10 | He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things without number. |
| Job 11:7 | “Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty? |
| Job 26:14 | Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?” |
| Job 36:26 | Behold, God is great, and we don’t know him. The number of his years is unsearchable. |
| Ecclesiastes 3:11 | He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that Elihu ends his speech with a description of God’s thunder. He believes the writer of Job copied this description from Psalm 77. You may find hope in Christ and the resurrection.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights that the Hebrew storm description is unique among ancient poems because God is everywhere in it, directing every flash of lightning and peal of thunder. Other poets describe the tempest's fury, but only the sacred writer shows God personally presiding over it, which gives the passage its supreme sublimity.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight the overwhelming power of God's voice, described as thunder that stirs awe. The commentator stresses that God constantly does great works beyond human comprehension, reminding readers that much of His activity remains hidden from their understanding.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws a deliberate parallel between the physical marvels of thunder—eggs consumed but shells unharmed, metal melted and purses intact—and the spiritual marvels of the Gospel. The same God who works incomprehensible wonders in nature also works incomprehensible wonders in grace, quickening sinners and casting down strongholds.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Barnes notes that God is present in every storm and controls it completely. He points to Psalm 29 showing God’s voice is heard powerfully there as well.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch note that the repeated word for voice here means hearing attentively rather than constantly. They also explain that the word for thunder means to set free rather than give direction.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange sees Elihu's description of God's thunderous voice as more than a general metaphor. He argues that the poet intended the actual thunderstorm out of which God will speak to Job in chapter 38 to be already unfolding during Elihu's speech, giving him immediate material for his majestic description of divine power.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that God uses thunder and lightning together as visible signs of his greatness power and terror. He believes these natural events also serve to awaken people to consider a God above them.