Job 37:2 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

Hear attentively - Margin, as in Hebrew “hear in hearing;” that is, bear with attention. It has been supposed by many, and not without probability, that the tempest was already seen rising, out of which God was to address Job Job 38, and that Elihu here calls the special attention of his hearers to the gathering storm, and to the low muttering thunder in the distance.

The noise of his voice - Thunder is often represented as the voice of God, and this was one of the most natural of all suppositions when its nature was little understood, and is at all times a beautiful poetic conception; see the whole of Psalms 29:1-11. The word rendered “noise” (רגז rôgez), means properly “commotion,” that which is fitted to produce perturbation, or disquiet (see Job 3:17, Job 3:26; Isaiah 14:3), and is used here to denote the commotion, or “raging” of thunder.

And the sound - The word used here (הגה hegeh) means properly a “muttering growling” - as of thunder. It is often used to denote sighing, moaning, and meditation, in contradistinction from clear enunciation. Here it refers to the thunder which seems to mutter or growl in the sky.

Job 37:2

2 Heara attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.