The book of Exodus tells us that God spoke, but the how… that’s where the Jewish tradition gets truly wondrous.
Our exploration starts with a seemingly simple verse: “The Lord said to Aaron: Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. He went, and he met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him” (Exodus 4:27). But as Shemot Rabbah, a classic collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) interpretations on the Book of Exodus, points out, this verse connects to something far grander: "God thunders marvelously with His voice" (Job 37:5).
What does it mean that God "thunders"? According to the Sages, when God gave the Torah at Sinai, His voice was a miracle. Imagine this: God speaks, and the sound doesn't just travel in a straight line. It circulates throughout the entire world! The Israelites, wherever they stood, heard the voice coming from every direction. From the south, then the north, then the east, then the west, reaching up to the heavens and down to the earth. They were utterly disoriented, asking each other, "But wisdom, where shall it be found?" (Job 28:12). Where was this voice coming from?
As we find in Midrash Rabbah, the people wondered, "From where does the Holy One blessed be He come, from the east or from the south?" The text references verses showing God "came from Sinai and shone to them from Seir" (Deuteronomy 33:2) and "God came from the south" (Habakkuk 3:3). It was a sensory overload!
But here's where it gets even more amazing. "All the people were seeing the voices" (Exodus 20:15). Notice that the text doesn’t say "voice," but "voices." Rabbi Yoḥanan explains that the single divine voice miraculously split into seventy distinct voices, one for each of the seventy languages of the world, so that every nation could understand the Torah. Ginzberg, in his Legends of the Jews, expands on this, painting a picture of each nation hearing God's word in their own tongue.
Now, here's a striking detail: When the other nations heard this divine voice, their souls departed! They couldn't handle it. But the Israelites? They heard and lived. Why? Rabbi Tanḥuma explains that the voice emerged in two forms: a force of destruction for those who rejected it (the idolaters) and a source of life for those who accepted the Torah (Israel). Moses later reminds them, “For who is there of all flesh who heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire [as we have, and lived?]” (Deuteronomy 5:22).
And it gets even more personal. The voice wasn't a one-size-fits-all experience. It was tailored to each individual's capacity. The elderly heard it in a way they could understand, the young men in their own way, children, nursing babies, women – even Moses himself! "Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice" (Exodus 19:19), but a voice calibrated to his ability to withstand it. As it says in (Psalms 29:4), "The voice of the Lord is powerful [bako’aḥ]". The tradition stresses that it doesn’t say “His capability, bekoḥo,” but rather bako’aḥ, according to the capability of each and every one.
Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina offers a compelling analogy: the manna, the miraculous food that sustained the Israelites in the desert. The manna transformed to suit everyone's needs: bread for the young, honey wafers for the old, milk for babies, and fine flour for the sick. Even the idolaters tasted it, but for them, it was bitter. If the manna could adapt to each individual, wouldn't the divine voice, imbued with even greater power, do the same?
The Midrash then offers another fascinating perspective. Rabbi Levi suggests that there are three sounds that travel across the world, unnoticed by most: the movement of the sun, the sound of rain, and the soul leaving the body. These sounds are powerful, yet we are oblivious to them. Similarly, God's voice at Sinai was a force of nature, a cosmic event beyond our ordinary perception.
Finally, Rabbi Reuven adds a poignant detail. When God spoke to Moses in Midian, telling him to return to Egypt, the speech split into two: Moses heard, "Go, return to Egypt," while Aaron heard, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." Even in this seemingly simple instruction, the divine voice manifested differently to different people, guiding them on their individual paths.
So, what does all of this tell us? The giving of the Torah at Sinai wasn't just about receiving laws. It was an immersive, transformative experience. The voice of God wasn't a static, uniform sound. It was a dynamic, multifaceted force that resonated uniquely with each individual, offering both life and, for those unwilling to listen, its opposite. It reminds us that our own encounters with the divine can be deeply personal, shaped by our own capabilities and readiness to hear. And perhaps, if we listen closely enough, we can still hear echoes of that thunderous, marvelous voice today.
“The Lord said to Aaron: Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. He went, and he met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him” (Exodus 4:27). “The Lord said to Aaron: Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” – that is what is written: “God thunders marvelously with His voice” (Job 37:5). What is “thunders”? When the Holy One blessed be He gave the Torah at Sinai, He displayed His voice to Israel with miracles and wonders. How so? The Holy One blessed be He would speak, and the voice emerged and circulated throughout the world. Israel heard the voice coming to them from the south and were running to the south to greet the voice. From the south it shifted for them to the north, and they were running to the north. From the north it shifted to the east, and they were running to the east. From the east it shifted for them to the west, and they were running to the west. From the west it shifted for them to the heavens, and they were raising their eyes. It shifted to the earth, and they were looking at the earth, as it is stated: “From the heavens, He sounded His voice to you to admonish you [and on the earth He showed you His great fire]” (Deuteronomy 4:36). Israel were saying to each other: “But wisdom, where shall it be found?” (Job 28:12). Israel was saying: ‘From where does the Holy One blessed be He come, from the east or from the south?’ As it is stated: “The Lord came from Sinai and shone to them from Seir” (Deuteronomy 33:2), and it is written: “God came from the south” (Habakkuk 3:3), and it says: “All the people were seeing the voices” (Exodus 20:15). Voice is not written here, but “voices.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The voice would emerge and divide into seventy voices for seventy languages, so that all the nations could understand. Each and every nation would hear a voice in the language of that nation, and their souls departed. But Israel heard and they were not harmed. How would the voice emerge? Rabbi Tanḥuma said: It would emerge in two forms: It would kill the idolaters, who did not accept it, and would give life to Israel, who accepted the Torah. That is what Moses said to them at the end of forty years: “For who is there of all flesh who heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire [as we have, and lived?]” (Deuteronomy 5:22). You heard His voice and lived, but idolaters heard and died. Come and see how the voice would emerge to each one of Israel, each and every one in accordance with his capability; the elderly according to their capability, the young men according to their capability, the children according to their capability, the nursing babies according to their capability, the women according to their capability, and Moses, too, according to his capability, as it is stated: “Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice” (Exodus 19:19), with a voice that he could withstand. Likewise it says: “The voice of the Lord is powerful [bako’aḥ]” (Psalms 29:4). It does not say His capability, bekoḥo, but rather bako’aḥ, according to the capability of each and every one, and even pregnant women according to their capability. That is: Each and every one according to his capability. Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: If you are astonished about this matter, learn from the manna that would fall for Israel only according to the capability of each and every one of Israel. The young men would eat it as bread, as it is stated: “Behold I will rain bread for you from the heavens…” (Exodus 16:4); the elderly, like honey wafers, as it is stated: “And its taste was like wafers with honey” (Exodus 16:31); the nursing babies, like milk from his mother’s breasts [shedei], as it is stated: “Its taste was like the taste of a cake [leshad] with oil” (Numbers 11:8); and the ill, like fine flour mixed with honey, as it is stated: “My bread that I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you” (Ezekiel 16:19); the idolaters tasted it bitter like a coriander seed, as it is stated: “The manna was like a coriander seed” (Numbers 11:7). Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: If the manna, which was one type, transformed into several types to fill the need of each and every one, the voice that had power in it,12The voice of God, in accordance with the verse cited above: “The voice of the Lord is powerful” (Psalms 29:4). all the more so that it would change for each and every one so they would not be harmed. From where is it derived that the voice divided into several voices so they would not be harmed? It is as it is stated: “All the people were seeing the voices” (Exodus 20:15). That is: “God thunders marvelously with His voice” (Job 37:5). Another interpretation: “God thunders marvelously with His voice” – Rabbi Levi said: Three sounds carry from one end of the world to the other, and creatures are between them and do not hear anything, and these are they: The day, the rains, and the soul at the moment that it leaves the body. The day, from where is it derived? Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Ilai said: This is the star that moves stealthily in the heavens, but is actually like a saw [variant reading, like a nail] that cuts into wood. The rains, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “Depth calls to depth at the sound of your watercourses” (Psalms 42:8). How so? There is a tree whose roots descend twenty cubits, another [whose roots descend] thirty [cubits], another fifty, and some descend only three handbreadths. If the rains from above irrigate [to a depth of] only three handbreadths, those [whose roots descend] fifty cubits will die. If those of fifty cubits are irrigated, it will destroy those of three handbreadths. Rather, the upper depth13In the heavens calls to the lower depth14Under the earth and says to it: ‘Ascend, and I will descend.’ And the lower says to it: ‘Descend and I will ascend.’ The upper descends and irrigates those of three handbreadths, and the lower ascends and irrigates those of fifty cubits. Come and see how far it is between these and those and they call to each other, and people are in the middle but do not hear. That is: “God thunders marvelously with His voice.” The soul, at the moment that it leaves the body [also makes a very loud sound], and the people sitting with him do not hear. That is: “God thunders marvelously with His voice.” Rabbi Reuven said: When the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses in Midyan: “Go, return to Egypt” (Exodus 4:19), the speech was divided into two voices and assumed two forms. Moses heard in Midyan: “Go, return to Egypt,” and Aaron heard: “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” (Exodus 4:27). That is: “God thunders marvelously with His voice.”
