Psalms 18:13

The Lord thundered ¹  in ²  the sky; the sovereign One ³  shouted. ⁴ 

The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

The LORD thundered from heaven; the Most High gave a mighty shout.

Then GOD thundered out of heaven; the High God gave a great shout, spraying hailstones and fireballs.

The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out: a rain of ice and fire.

The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice.

The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

The Lord thundered ¹  in ²  the sky; the sovereign One ³  shouted. ⁴ 

¹ sn Thunder is a common motif in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 179-83.

² tn 2 Sam 22:14 has “from.”

³ tn Heb “the Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

⁴ tc The text of Ps 18:13 adds at this point, “hail and coals of fire.” These words are probably accidentally added from v. 12b; they do not appear in 2 Sam 22:14.

tn Heb “offered his voice.” In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line.