Psalm 18:13

The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) In the heavens.—The version in Samuel is from the heavens,” which is better. For the thunder as God’s voice see Psalm 29:3, and Note.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 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 Psalm 18:3; Psalm 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.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:1-19 The first words, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength, are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that truly love God, may triumph in him as their Rock and Refuge, and may with confidence call upon him. It is good for us to observe all the circumstances of a mercy which magnify the power of God and his goodness to us in it. David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God. If we pray as he did, we shall speed as he did. God's manifestation of his presence is very fully described, ver. 7-15. Little appeared of man, but much of God, in these deliverances. It is not possible to apply to the history of the son of Jesse those awful, majestic, and stupendous words which are used through this description of the Divine manifestation. Every part of so solemn a scene of terrors tells us, a greater than David is here. God will not only deliver his people out of their troubles in due time, but he will bear them up under their troubles in the mean time. Can we meditate on ver. 18, without directing one thought to Gethsemane and Calvary? Can we forget that it was in the hour of Christ's deepest calamity, when Judas betrayed, when his friends forsook, when the multitude derided him, and the smiles of his Father's love were withheld, that the powers of darkness prevented him? The sorrows of death surrounded him, in his distress he prayed, Heb 5:7. God made the earth to shake and tremble, and the rocks to cleave, and brought him out, in his resurrection, because he delighted in him and in his undertaking.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Lord also thundered in the heavens - Thunder is often in the Scriptures described as the voice of God. See the magnificent description in Psalm 29:1-11; compare Job 40:9, "Canst thou thunder with a voice like him?" So 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 12:18; Psalm 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.

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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. The storm breaks forth—thunder follows lightning, and hail with repeated lightning, as often seen, like balls or coals of fire, succeed (Ex 9:23).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The Lord also thundered, to wit, against my adversaries. Thunder is a sign of God’s anger, 1 Samuel 2:10 7:10.

His voice, i.e. thunder, oft so called. The same thing expressed in other words.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Lord also thundered in the heavens,.... By his apostles and ministers, some of which were Boanergeses, sons of thunder, whose ministry was useful to shake the consciences of men, and bring them to a sense of themselves, Mark 3:17;

and the Highest gave his voice; the same with thunder; for thunder is often called the voice of the Lord, Job 37:5; compare with this Psalm 68:11; the Targum interprets it, "he lifted up his word"; the same effects as before follow,

hail stones and coals of fire; See Gill on Psalm 18:12.

Geneva Study Bible

The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave {i} his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

(i) Thunders, lightnings and hail.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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 Psalm 7:17; and Appendix, Note II. Thunder is the voice of God. See Psalm 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 Psalm 18:12 by an error of transcription.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - 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 (comp. Job 38:4, 5). Hail 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. Psalm 18:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 18:14-16) Amidst thunder, Jahve hurled lightnings as arrows upon David's enemies, and the breath of His anger laid bare the beds of the flood to the very centre of the earth, in order to rescue the sunken one. Thunder is the rumble of God, and as it were the hollow murmur of His mouth, Job 37:2. עליון, the Most High, is the name of God as the inapproachable Judge, who governs all things. The third line of Psalm 18:14 is erroneously repeated from the preceding strophe. It cannot be supported on grammatical grounds by Exodus 9:23, since קול נתן, edere vocem, has a different meaning from the נתן קלת, dare tonitrua, of that passage. The symmetry of the strophe structure is also against it; and it is wanting both in 2 Sam. nd in the lxx. רב, which, as the opposite of מעט Nehemiah 2:12; Isaiah 10:7, means adverbially "in abundance," is the parallel to ויּשׁלח. It is generally taken, after the analogy of Genesis 49:23, in the sense of בּרק, Psalm 144:6 : רב in pause equals רב (the ō passing over into the broader like עז instead of עז in Genesis 49:3) equals רבב, cognate with רבה, רמה; but the forms סב, סבּוּ, here, and in every other instance, have but a very questionable existence, as e.g., רב, Isaiah 54:13, is more probably an adjective than the third person praet. (cf. Bttcher, Neue Aehrenlese No. 635, 1066). The suffixes ēm do not refer to the arrows, i.e., lightnings, but to David's foes. המם means both to put in commotion and to destroy by confounding, Exodus 14:24; Exodus 23:27. In addition to the thunder, the voice of Jahve, comes the stormwind, which is the snorting of the breath of His nostrils. This makes the channels of the waters visible and lays bare the foundations of the earth. אפיק (collateral form to אפק) is the bed of the river and then the river or brook itself, a continendo aquas (Ges.), and exactly like the Arabic mesı̂k, mesâk, mesek (from Arab. msk, the VI form of which, tamâsaka, corresponds to התאפּק), means a place that does not admit of the water soaking in, but on account of the firmness of the soil preserves it standing or flowing. What are here meant are the water-courses or river beds that hold the water. It is only needful for Jahve to threaten (epitiman Matthew 8:26) and the floods, in which he, whose rescue is undertaken here, is sunk, flee (Psalm 104:7) and dry up (Psalm 106:9, Nahum 1:4). But he is already half engulfed in the abyss of Hades, hence not merely the bed of the flood is opened up, but the earth is rent to its very centre. From the language being here so thoroughly allegorical, it is clear that we were quite correct in interpreting the description as ideal. He, who is nearly overpowered by his foes, is represented as one engulfed in deep waters and almost drowning.