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The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
Psalms 29:7 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh’s voice strikes with flashes of lightning.
  • BSB The voice of the LORD strikes with flames of fire.
  • NKJV The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.
  • NASB The voice of the Lord divides flames of fire.
  • NLT The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The Lord's voice flashes forth with lightning. It continues the storm imagery of God's awesome power.

Overview

Lightning is portrayed as hewn and hurled by God's voice, a vivid sign of His control over the elements. The brief, striking line heightens the sense of divine power on display. God commands the forces of nature that humans can only fear and wonder at.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 77:18The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
  • Lev 10:2And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
  • Exod 9:23And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
  • Ps 144:5–6Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
  • Job 38:35Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
  • 2 Kgs 1:10–12And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
  • Job 37:3He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
  • Num 16:35And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 29:7YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 29:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.