Psalms 77:17

17 The clouds poured down rain. The skies rumbled with thunder. Lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.

Psalms 77:17 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 77:17

The clouds poured out water
This, with some other circumstances which follow, are not related by Moses in the history of this affair; but as they are here recorded by an inspired penman, there is no doubt to be made of the truth of them; besides Josephus F1 relates the same things; he says, that at the time when the Egyptians were drowned in the Red sea, rains descended from heaven, and there were terrible thunders, lightnings, and thunderbolts; this was when the Lord looked through the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, ( Exodus 14:24 ) ,

the skies sent out a sound;
or the airy clouds, the lighter ones, and which were higher in the heavens, as the others before mentioned were thick clouds, full of water, and hung lower; these were thunderclouds, and thunder is the sound which they sent forth, as in the following verse:

thine arrows also went abroad:
that is, lightnings, as in ( Psalms 18:14 ) , so Aben Ezra; but Kimchi interprets them of hailstones.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Antiqu. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 3.

Psalms 77:17 In-Context

15 With your mighty arm you set your people free. You set the children of Jacob and Joseph free. "Selah"
16 God, the water of the Red Sea saw you. It saw you and boiled up. The deepest waters were stirred up.
17 The clouds poured down rain. The skies rumbled with thunder. Lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.
18 Your thunder was heard in the windstorm. Your lightning lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your path led through the Red Sea. You walked through the mighty waters. But your footprints were not seen.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.