Psalm 77:17

17 The ¹clouds poured out water; The skies ²gave forth a sound; Your ³arrows flashed here and there.

Psalm 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Psalm 77:17 In-Context

15 You have by Your power redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

16 The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were in anguish; The deeps also trembled.

17 The clouds poured out water; The skies gave forth a sound; Your arrows flashed here and there.

18 The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook.

19 Your way was in the sea And Your paths in the mighty waters, And Your footprints may not be known.

Cross References

• 1. Judges 5:4
• 2. Psalms 68:33
• 3. Psalms 18:14

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "went"