‘The crowd standing around, heard it and were saying it thundered. Others were saying, “an angel spoke to him”.
The actual words of the thunderous cry from Heaven were not understood by the crowd, although Jesus understood them. But the crowd were moved by the roar. Some ‘were saying' - there were awed discussions among the crowd. All had heard something, but not all were willing to accept what it was. Some, the sceptical, claimed it was thunder, others, the half-believing, were convinced it was the voice of an angel. But all had heard it and none was unmoved. We can compare with this how the multitude at Sinai heard the thunder of God's voice but did not discern the words (Exodus 20:18-21; Exodus 24:3). John may well have intended the comparison. A new covenant was being enacted (Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20).