Albert Barnes Commentary Job 37:5

"God thundereth marvellously with his voice; Great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend." — Job 37:5 (ASV)

God thunders marvelously - He thunders in a wonderful manner. The idea is that the voice of His thunder is an amazing exhibition of His majesty and power.

Great things He does, which we cannot comprehend - This is true not only in regard to the thunder and the tempest, but in other things as well. The description of the storm properly ends here, and in the subsequent verses, Elihu proceeds to specify various other phenomena that were wholly incomprehensible by man. This reference to the storm and to the other grand and incomprehensible phenomena of nature is a most appropriate introduction to the manifestation of God Himself as described in the next chapter, and it could not but have done much to prepare Job and his friends for that sublime close of the controversy.

The passage before us (Job 36:29–33; Job 37:1–5) is probably the earliest description of a thunderstorm on record. A tempest is a phenomenon that must have attracted attention early on, and which we may expect to find described or alluded to in all early poetry. It may be interesting, therefore, to compare this description of a storm, in what is probably the oldest poem in the world, with what has been provided by the masters of song in ancient and modern times; we shall find that in sublimity and beauty the Hebrew poet suffers nothing in comparison.

In one respect, which constitutes the chief sublimity of the description, he surpasses them all: namely, in the recognition of God. In the Hebrew description, God is everywhere in the storm. He excites it; He holds the lightnings in both hands; He directs it where He pleases; He makes it the instrument of His pleasure and of executing His purposes.

Sublime, therefore, as is the description of the storm itself—furious as is the tempest, bright as is the lightning, and heavy and awful as is the roar of the thunder—yet the description derives its chief sublimity from the fact that "God" presides over all, riding on the tempest and directing the storm as He pleases. Other poets have rarely attempted to give this direction to the thoughts in their descriptions of a tempest, with the possible exception of Klopstock, and they fall, therefore, far below the sacred poet. The following is the description of a storm by Elihu, according to the exposition I have given:

Who can understand the outspreading of the clouds,
And the fearful thunderings in His pavilion?
Behold, He spreadeth His light upon it;
He also covereth the depths of the sea.
By these He executeth judgment upon the people,
By these He giveth food in abundance.
With His hands He covereth the lightning,
And commandeth it where to strike.
He pointeth out to His friends—
The collecting of His wrath is upon the wicked.
At this also my heart palpitates,
And is moved out of its place.
Hear, O hear, the thunder of His voice!
The muttering thunder that goes from His mouth!
He directeth it under the whole heaven,
And His lightning to the end of the earth.
After it, the thunder roareth;
He thundereth with the voice of His majesty,
And He will not restrain the tempest when His voice is heard.
God thundereth marvelously with His voice;
He doeth wonders, which we cannot comprehend.

The following is the description of a tempest by Aeschylus, in Prometheus Bound, beginning:

- Χθὼν σεσάλευται·
Βρυχία δ᾽ ἠχὼ παραμυκᾶται
Βροντῆς, κτλ. (and so on)

- Chthōn sesaleutai;
Bruchia d' ēchō paramukatai
Brontēs, etc.

- "I feel in very deed
The firm earth rock: the thunder’s deepening roar
Rolls with redoubled rage; the bickering flames
Flash thick; the eddying sands are whirled on high;
In dreadful opposition, the wild winds
Rend the vexed air; the boisterous billows rise
Confounding earth and sky: the impetuous storm
Rolls all its terrible fury."
– Potter

Ovid’s description is the following:

Aethera conscendit, vultumque sequentia traxit
Nubila; queis nimbos, immixtaque fulgura ventis
Addidit, et tonitrus, et inevitabile fulmen.

Metamorphoses 2

The description of a storm by Lucretius is the following:

Praeterea persaepe niger quoque per mare nimbus
Ut picis e caelo demissum flumen, in undas
Sic cadit, et fertur tenebris, procul et trahit atram
Fulminibus gravidam tempestatem, atque procellis,
Ignibus ac ventis cum primus ipse repletus:
In terris quoque ut horrescant ac tecta requirant.
Sic igitur supra nostrum caput esse putandum est
Tempestatem altam. Neque enim caligine tanta
Obruerat terras, nisi inaedificata superne
Multa forent multis exempto nubila sole.

De Rerum Natura 6

The well-known description of the storm by Virgil is as follows:

Nimborum in patriam, loca feta furentibus Austris,
Aeoliam venit. Hic vasto Rex Aeolus antro
Luctantes ventos tempestatesque sonoras
Imperio premit, ac vinclis et carcere frenat.
Illi indignantes, magno cum murmure, montis
Circum claustra fremunt. Celsa sedet Aeolus arce,
Sceptra tenens; mollitque animos, et temperat iras.

- Venti, velut agmine facto,
Qua data porta, ruunt, et terras turbine perflant.
Incubuere mari, totumque a sedibus imis,
Una Eurusque Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis
Africus, et vastos volvunt ad litora fluctus.

Aeneid 1:51-57, 82-86

One of the most sublime descriptions of a storm to be found anywhere is provided by Klopstock. It contains a beautiful recognition of the presence and majesty of God, and a most tender and affecting description of the protection which His friends experience when the storm rushes by. It is in the Frühlingsfeier—a poem that is regarded by many as his masterpiece. A small portion of it I will transcribe:

Wolken strömen herauf!
Sichtbar ist, der kommt, der Ewige!
Nun schweben sie, rauschen sie, wirbeln die Winde!
Wie beugt sich der Wald! Wie hebt sich der Strom!
Sichtbar, wie Du es Sterblichen sein kannst,
Ja, das bist Du, sichtbar, Unendlicher!
Zürnest Du, Herr,
Weil Nacht Dein Gewand ist?
Diese Nacht ist Segen der Erde.
Vater, Du zürnest nicht!
Seht ihr den Zeugen des Nahen, den zuckenden Strahl?
Hört ihr Jehovahs Donner?
Hört ihr ihn? Hört ihr ihn,
Den erschütternden Donner des Herrn?
Herr! Herr! Gott!
Barmherzig und gnädig!
Angebetet, gepriesen
Sei Dein herrlicher Name!
Und die Gewitterwinde! Sie tragen den Donner!
Wie sie rauschen! Wie sie mit lauter Woge den Wald durchströmen!
Und nun schweigen sie. Langsam wandelt
Die schwarze Wolke.
Seht ihr den neuen Zeugen des Nahen, den fliegenden Strahl!
Hört ihr hoch in der Wolke den Donner des Herrn?
Er ruft: Jehova! Jehova!
Und der geschmetterte Wald dampft!
Aber nicht unsre Hütte—
Unser Vater gebot
Seinem Verderber,
Vor unsrer Hütte vorüberzugehen!