The Imagery of Clouds in the Scriptures

By Richard D. Patterson

[Richard D. Patterson is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Semitics and Old Testament, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia.]

Since ancient times people have been fascinated with clouds. “In all times and places mythical imagination has been occupied with the shapes of clouds.”[1] Clouds have been the subject of much poetic expression. For example Robert Frost describes the approach of a strong Pacific storm as follows: “The clouds were low and heavy in the skies, like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.”[2] Frost’s simile depicts an ominous mass of dark cumulonimbus clouds, which heralded the onset of savage winds bringing huge waves ashore.

Figurative Uses Of Clouds In The Ancient World

Clouds were also used figuratively in the literature of ancient times. Thus in the Ugaritic epics the storm god Baal was called “The Rider on the Clouds.” In the goddess Anat’s gory battle with her enemies, “The Virgin Anat washed her hands, the Mistress of the Peoples her fingers. . . . She drew water and washed, the heavens’ dew, the earth’s oil, the rain of the Rider on the Clouds.”[3] This epithet graphically depicts the storm god Baal soaring above the skies riding on the clouds, his chariot. A similar epithet has been noted with regard to the Mesopotamian storm god Adad.[4]

Among the ancient Greeks clouds served as chariots for the gods or as tents in which the gods could conceal themselves.[5] Aristophanes, the father of Greek comedy, however, found a new use for the clouds. In his classic comedy “The Clouds” he employed the image of clouds as new gods in an effort to attack the philosophers of his day—in particular Socrates. The clouds were the new gods of sophistry, which by sheer legal argumentation sought to gain its own ends in any possible way. “The Clouds of Aristophanes satirized the foibles of the fashionable sophistic school of philosophy then making itself strongly felt in the city.”[6]

Who are these that recite with such grandeur and might?
Are they glorified mortals of old?
Socrates: No mortals are there, but Clouds of the air,
great Gods who the indolent fill:
These grant us discourse, and logical force,
and the art of persuasion instill,
And periphrasis strange, and a power to arrange,
and a marvelous judgement [sic] and skill.[7]

Yet, as Oepke remarks, “The aim of the poet is not, however, to establish a cult of the clouds. The clouds represent the new gods of sophistry.”[8] It should be noted further, however, that as Flacelière points out concerning Aristophanes, “His primary aim was to win the prize by making the spectators laugh.”[9] When his comedy “The Clouds” was met with less than enthusiastic reception by the public, Aristophanes rewrote it. In the revised version (the only extant copy) the clouds are no longer cast in the role of those who upset tradition, but at the end of the comedy the clouds assume a character much like a “lying spirit” in the Old Testament (1 Kings 22:19–23). Thus when Strepsiades complained to the clouds (represented by the chorus) that they had misled him, they replied that they were only trying to bring the man to the end of himself and so to repentance.

O Clouds! O Clouds! I owe all this to you!
Why did I let you manage my affairs!
Chorus: Nay, nay, old man, you owe it to yourself.
Why didst thou turn to wicked practices?
Strepsiades: Ah, but ye should have asked me that before,
and not have spurred a poor old fool to evil.
Chorus: Such is our plan. We find a man on evil thoughts intent,
Guide him along to shame and wrong, then leave him to repent.[10]

Figurative Uses Of Clouds In Common Idioms

The many references to clouds in literature are a reminder that they often appear in everyday communications in figurative speech, images, and idioms. For example impure liquids are said to be “cloudy.” A “cloudy” expression on one’s face can indicate worry, anxiety, or even despair. If someone “casts a cloud” on another’s reputation, he is slurring his character. If someone has a “clouded” past, it may indicate previous trouble in his earlier life or that little is known about him. If someone is “under a cloud,” he is suspected of wrongdoing. What is obscure or unseen can be described as being “behind a cloud.” If a person “clouds” another’s mind, he makes something obscure to him. Clouds can also signal a change for the worse or even danger as when one “sees a cloud on the horizon.”

The absence of clouds is more commendatory. For example one treasures a “cloudless sky.” Such is the sentiment in the old song “Home on the Range” (said to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s favorite song). It was a place where the skies are not cloudy all day. Also a hymn writer exclaims,

O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
O the land of cloudless day,
O the land of an unclouded day.[11]

Another hymn writer looks forward to that “bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise and the glory of his resurrection share.”[12] Even on a cloudy day one should “look for the silver lining whenever clouds appear in the blue.” For “every cloud must have a silver lining” so that one should “wait until the sun breaks through.”

Cloud imagery can also represent something that is unreal. One who “has his head in the clouds” is living in a fanciful condition or is being impractical or just plain absentminded. Yet one who is “on cloud nine” has a sense of happiness approaching euphoria.

The common references to clouds in many settings by people of all ages can well serve as preparation for the fact that the writers of Scripture used similar imagery in communicating God’s Word.

Figurative Uses Of Clouds In The Scriptures

Clouds are referred to in the Scriptures in a variety of ways, not only as meteorological phenomena but also in important images.[13]

General Figurative Uses

As noted above, clouds in figurative speech often emphasize a negative idea. Thus Qoheleth noted the inevitability of things beyond human control such as clouds pouring down rain (Eccles. 11:3). Therefore one should not be overcome by such things and react negatively, for “whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap” (v. 4). Similarly Qoheleth urged his readers to come to terms with God in their youth, for old age comes on all too quickly and the troubles of the later years and impending death overwhelm the individual: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before . . . the clouds return after the rain” (12:1–2).[14] As Kaiser observes, “The cloudy day following the showers in 12:2 is, according to the prevalent symbolism of the Old Testament, a day, or time, of pending misfortune.”[15] Thus “the cloud is also the symbol of the terrible and of destruction. . . . The invader is expected to ‘come up like clouds’ (Jer. 4:13), Joel (2:2) foretells the coming of locusts as ‘a day of clouds and thick darkness,’ which is both literal and figurative.”[16]

People who foolishly claim to have been charitable by giving gifts are likened to clouds and wind, which though seeming to herald the approach of much-needed rain, fail to produce any (Prov. 25:14). Such boasting and self-aggrandizement to bring honor and fame in the eyes of others is hypocritical at best and harmful at worst if the supposed gift was sorely needed by the one to whom it was promised. In either case such a false claim is sinful. It is reminiscent of Ananias and Sapphira, who claimed to have given all the proceeds of a sale to the apostles for the work of the gospel but “kept back part of the money” (Acts 5:2). In similar fashion Jude condemned those individuals who disguise themselves as believers and teachers and join with Christians in their “fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord” but “are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing” (Jude 12, NLT).

Political disaster can also be described as a “day of clouds.” Ezekiel’s prophecy against Egypt warns of a soon coming “day of the Lord . . . a day of clouds” when “a sword will come against Egypt” (Ezek. 30:3–4). “Wail and say, ‘Alas for that day!’ For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near—a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations” (vv. 2–3).

Lamenting the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiah spoke of clouds as a covering. Like an unwelcome blanket God’s angry cloud of judgment had come down against His people, leaving the city covered with desolation (Lam. 2:1).

Cloud imagery can also appear in figurative language emphasizing something that is good or favorable.[17] A ruler who rules justly is likened to a welcome sunlight at daybreak on a cloudless morning. “He is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth” (2 Sam. 23:4).[18] When a king’s face brightened, it was a sign of special favor much as a spring rain promised beneficial effects (Prov. 16:15). The Lord is the Creator of earth’s ecosphere and ecosystem; it is He who sends the needed rain with its life-giving properties (Isa. 45:8).[19] In Ezekiel’s vision God’s radiance was like “a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day” (Ezek. 1:28; cf. Rev. 4:3). Here Ezekiel provided a ray of hope despite the gloomy prophecies of judgment that he must render. “It is likely that this alludes back to Genesis 9 and indicates that God will exercise his mercy in the context of his judgment of the people for their sins.”[20]

Clouds have also been associated with movement to heaven. After Jesus’ ascension “a cloud hid him from their sight” (Acts 1:9).[21]

Clouds As A Covering

As already noted in Lamentations 2:1, clouds can be used in connection with a covering. As the psalmist said of God, “Clouds and thick darkness surround him” (Ps. 97:2). Job’s “comforter” Eliphaz mistakenly chided Job as holding that the darkness of space and the great cloud covering over the earth keep God from seeing human activity (Job 22:13–14). Later Elihu pointed out that the clouds are earth’s covering, which God spread out to function in accord with His control of the hydrologic cycle—all for the benefit or judgment of mankind (36:27–33; 37:11–13). In a rhetorical question Elihu asked Job whether he could understand the whole matter of clouds and God’s control of them (37:14–16). The answer clearly is no. Subsequently the Lord underscored this fact by declaring that He alone is in control of the existence and activity of clouds. Employing the imagery of an infant in childbirth, the Lord likened the sea to a child delivered from the womb, wrapped in celestial swaddling clothes (the clouds), and covered with a blanket of thick darkness (38:8–9).

In a completely different vein the writer of Hebrews used the metaphor of clouds in relation to a footrace. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses . . . let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1). As Christians run the race of faith, they are surrounded by witnesses who have already successfully completed the event. Robertson points out that the cloud of witnesses is used metaphorically for “the great amphitheatre with the arena for the runners and the tiers upon tiers of seats rising up like a cloud. The martures here are not mere spectators (theatai), but testifiers (witnesses) who testify from their own experience (11:2, 4, 5, 33, 39) to God’s fulfilling his promises as shown in chapter 11.”[22] A further sense of covering perhaps remains in the background. That is, the cloud of past successful participants in the race of faith also provides a covering for subsequent Christians’ fears. The race has been and can be won.

Clouds As Height

Clouds can also be used in figures signifying something that is high, exalted, or limitless. For example in Psalm 57:10 David praised the Lord by saying, “For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies [lit., ‘clouds’].” Clouds are frequently mentioned synonymously with the heavens (e.g., Job 37:18; Ps. 36:5). By combining clouds with the oft-occurring paired nouns love (חֶסֶד, “lovingkindness, faithful love”), and faithfulness (אֶמֶת, “fidelity, truth”), the psalmist in Psalm 57 was praising the limitless nature of God’s person and high moral character.[23] His faithful love knows no bounds.[24] God’s limitless and constant love and compassion provide great impetus for His people. As VanGemeren observes, “The quality of God’s love guarantees the continual operation of all his benefits (perfections) toward his people, including righteousness, uprightness, justice, forgiveness, patience, and compassion.”[25]

Other texts speak of the vast difference between God’s limitless abilities and omniscience and human finitude. Employing a pair of rhetorical questions God asked Job, “Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? . . . Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens?” (Job 38:34, 37).[26]

Finite human beings can neither number the clouds (here presented in a metaphor as “water jugs” or “water skins”) nor command them to send life-giving rain. Such things are too exalted for humans and reside solely with the Lord of the universe. Here as elsewhere in the divine speeches Job was confronted with the need to recognize that God is sufficient for all of life’s situations. This truth is no different for today’s believers. It is one thing to give mental assent to belief in God; it is quite another to surrender to His wise direction.

The imagery of height can also take a negative turn. A man may have such pride that “his head touches the clouds” (20:6). Although the context here is aimed particularly at wicked individuals in general, the picture is reminiscent of the arrogance and self-aggrandizement that characterized the builders of the ancient Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4). The plans of such people can well be frustrated (vv. 5–7), and they themselves pass on into oblivion (Job 20:7–9). Even worse, they find themselves in the place of eternal punishment (Isa. 14:12–15). Whether one views Isaiah’s words as referring to the fall of Satan (Tertullian),[27] or to the king of Babylon (Motyer),[28] or both (Grogan),[29] Oswalt’s observation is doubtless to the point. “Ultimately, the battle is between Creator and creatures, and the issue is whether we will accord him the right due him as Creator and bow to him in glad service or will continue to insist that we are as he is and continue to have our arrogance mocked by the worm.”[30]

Clouds As Transitory

At times cloud imagery is associated with swiftness or the transitory nature of life and its affairs or conditions.[31] Feeling his loss of security and senses, Job sensed that his life was ebbing away because of God’s harsh treatment of him (Job 30:15–19). He deplored the brevity of his life’s perspective and the finality of death (7:7–10), lamenting, “As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return” (v. 9). Hosea likened Israel’s love and commitment to the Lord to “a morning cloud” (Hos. 6:4, NASB) and early dew that disappear all too rapidly.

Hosea condemned Israel’s detestable worship of Baal and the Northern Kingdom’s state religion of calf worship, which had led them to engage in idolatry and human sacrifice. Therefore they had sealed their own imminent destruction. This would come on them so speedily that their life expectancy would be as short as a “morning cloud” or “dew which soon disappears” (13:2–3, NASB). As Chisholm observes, “Like its short-lived devotion to the Lord (cf. 6:4), idolatrous Ephraim would disappear as quickly as morning fog and dew, chaff and smoke (v. 3).”[32]

Conversely Isaiah used cloud imagery to assure his readers that despite the judgment that must come, the Lord is in control and will one day deal with Israel’s enemies. “As heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled” (Isa. 25:5). Young remarks, “Just as a passing cloud can obscure the heat of the sun and so protect the land therefrom, so easily will the Lord bring to silence the boasting noise of the tumultuous armies.”[33] Elsewhere Isaiah likened God’s future forgiveness and the redemption of His people to a passing cloud and the soon disappearing morning mist (44:22). In that day the nations will restore God’s people and see to their safe and speedy return to the promised land, together with rich tribute. “Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor” (60:8–9).[34]

Cloud Imagery And God In The Scriptures

As already noted, cloud imagery sometimes is used of God and His activity.[35] “The majority of the occurrences of עָנָן (58 out of 87) are used in connection with God’s theophanic presence.”[36]

God The Divine Warrior

As in the literature of the ancient Near East, Yahweh is extolled as the One “who rides on the clouds” (e.g., Ps. 68:4, 33; cf. 104:3). The imagery here is that of the Lord, mounted on His royal chariot, overseeing affairs on earth as defender, protector, and provider for the needy, including widows, orphans, and the impotent (68:5).[37] In His role as divine warrior He was the redeemer and deliverer of His helpless people in Egypt during the Exodus.

Psalm 18:7–15 (cf. 2 Sam. 22:8–16) tells of that momentous event in words that may have been part of a body of ancient Israelite epic literature. David recorded “such matters as a shaking mountain and the darkness so reminiscent of Israel before Mount Sinai as well as a mighty display in nature (cf. 144:5–6).”[38] Indeed God’s victorious deliverance of Israel as well as His movement from the south and accompanying powerful natural phenomena, including activity in the clouds, are attested in several places (e.g., Exod. 15:1–18; Deut. 33:2; Judg. 5:4; Pss. 68:7–8; 77:15–20; Hab. 3:3–15).[39] For example the psalmist Asaph wrote, “The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked” (Ps. 77:17–18).

Isaiah prophesied of another coming of the divine warrior in judgment against Egypt. “See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them” (Isa. 19:1). Yet another plague will descend on the Egyptians, but it will eventuate in the Egyptians’ redemption (vv. 19–22).

Nahum also pictured the activity of the divine warrior, this time against Nineveh and the wicked Assyrians. “His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet” (Nah. 1:3). All the forces of earth are under His control, for as the psalmist notes, Yahweh is the creator and controller of the physical universe (Ps. 104:2–3). As such He can and does utilize the forces of nature in accomplishing His goals. All of them—sea, rivers, land, and the whole earth—are at His disposal. Therefore one may ask, “Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him” (Nah. 1:6).

In familiar Old Testament imagery God is in the whirlwind and the storm (Ps. 83:16; Isa. 29:6) and treads the clouds under His feet (Pss. 68:4; 97:2; 104:3; Isa. 14:14; 66:15).

Christ The Divine Consummator

In the New Testament the imagery of the divine warrior is applied to Christ. John saw Him seated on a white cloud, His royal throne, poised to bring judgment on the earth in the eschaton (Rev. 14:14). He is the one whom Daniel saw earlier in his vision (Dan. 7:13), the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. As He ascended into heaven, He disappeared from the disciples’ sight behind a cloud (Acts 1:9). But He will come again (Mark 13:26; Acts 1:11; Rev. 1:7), this time in power to judge the earth. Drawing on Daniel 7:13; Joel 2:10, 31; and Zechariah 12:10, He said, “Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:29–30).

It will be a terrifying time of judgment (Luke 21:25–27). People will “see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62).

The Presence Of God

In many places in the Old Testament clouds are mentioned in connection with God’s presence among His people.[40] During the Israelites’ journey to Mount Sinai, “The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light” (Exod. 13:21; cf. Ps. 105:39). After they passed through the sea, they beheld the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud (Exod. 16:10; cf. 1 Cor. 10:1–2). Subsequently God made His presence felt to them as they journeyed through the wilderness on their way to the promised land, again leading them in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exod. 40:36–38; Deut. 1:33; Ps. 78:14).

A cloud signified not only God’s presence but also His awesomeness, holiness, and power. Therefore His presence was not to be violated in a careless or callous manner. At Mount Sinai the Lord’s mighty power and sanctity were forcefully displayed to God’s people as they stood at the foot of the mountain over which “was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain. . . . Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire” (Exod. 19:16, 18). Therefore when the Lord came down to the top of Mount Sinai, He warned the people not to “force their way through to see the Lord [lest] many of them perish” (vv. 20–21). Also the Lord warned the people through Moses that a priest should not enter into the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle “whenever he chooses . . . or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover” (Lev. 16:2). As Wenham observes, “Familiarity can breed contempt. These laws drive home the truth that God is just as holy and demands just as much reverence when he dwells permanently with Israel as on the first occasion when he appeared on Sinai (Exod. 19).”[41]

The New Testament revelation records a dramatic event. On one occasion Christ’s essential deity was attested by God’s speaking to the disciples from the cloud that enveloped Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–5). Here the disciples became aware of the presence of the heavenly Father as He spoke to them accompanied by the traditional imagery of the cloud. Sabourin calls attention to an analogy between the clouds of the Exodus and the cloud at Christ’s transfiguration. “The cloud of the Transfiguration is without doubt a theophanic cloud from which God speaks as from his dwelling place (Mk. 9:7). Its apparition and its function on the mountain point to a new exodus, to a new revelation, to the birth of a new people of God, that of end-time.”[42] But more than that, the disciples also were informed that they stood in the presence of God the Son. It was a foretaste of what every believer may experience on the basis of Christ’s perfect sacrifice and completed atonement. For now each believer may come into the presence of God and to the throne of His grace at any time (Heb. 6:19; 9:19–25).[43]

Conclusions And Application

Clouds are so commonplace that it is easy to overlook them. Yet their presence may stand as a visible symbol of a number of spiritual truths. Swift-moving clouds can remind believers of the transitory nature of life. How quickly it passes by! Herein believers are reminded of the old truism, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Looking at the clouds so high in the sky can also remind people of their finitude and limitations. Also because there are simply many matters that are beyond human control, people need to come to grips with things they cannot change even while doing their best to make changes where they are needed and can be done.

Storm clouds should remind people that one day the divine warrior will come in judgment on the sinful world. This fact should stimulate believers to present to others the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Clouds are also reminders that though difficulties come to believers’ lives, they can triumph by realizing that God is sufficient for all of life through the Author of life Himself, Christ Jesus (John 1:1–5). Thus each believer should resolve with the psalmist, “But as for me it is good to be near God” (Ps. 73:28).[44]

The certainty of Christ’s return “on the clouds of the sky” (Matt. 24:30) should encourage His followers to “long for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). If they do, they will not wish to be “waterless clouds” that promise results but fail to produce any rain, or “morning clouds” that disappear in the face of life’s trials. Furthermore believers have a “cloud of witnesses” as a testimony to God’s sufficiency in the face of life’s challenges.

By God’s grace may each believer, like the “witnesses” in Hebrews 11, run the race with eyes fixed on Christ, who always leads believers in triumph (1 Cor. 9:24–27; 2 Cor. 2:14; Heb. 12:1–3). This they can do as they remember the ongoing presence of the omnipresent One and the availability of God’s counsel and direction through His appointed means of grace, the Word and prayer. Moreover, all believers can realize God’s guiding presence at any time because of their relationship with the risen and indwelling Christ, with whom they are united (Col. 1:19–20, 27).

Clouds remind believers of Christ’s certain coming to “gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Matt. 24:31). And Paul declared that when He comes, “the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess. 4:16–17). The hymn writer has expressed it well:

Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for our salvation slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending
Swell the triumph of His train:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
God appears on earth to reign.[45]

In accord with this blessed hope believers are encouraged by John’s words in 1 John 3:2–3. “But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

As people, especially believers, gaze at the clouds from time to time, how appropriate it would be if they would stop and contemplate what the scriptural imagery of clouds can teach them. As Stevens remarks in another vein, “Clouds are pedagogues.”[46]

Notes

1. A. Oepke, “νεφέλη,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967), 903.
2. Robert Frost, “Once by the Pacific” (1926).
3. Michael David Coogan, Stories from Ancient Canaan (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978), 91. For the original text see Cyrus H. Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1967), 253, lines 32–41. For other uses of the epithet Rider on the Clouds see Dennis Pardee, “The Ba`lu Myth,” in The Context of Scripture, ed. William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger Jr. (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 1:248–49, 251–52, 258, 261, 266.
4. See W. B. Barrick and Helmer Ringgren, “רָכַב,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 13:488. In the mythology of the ancient Near East the sun god is also frequently depicted as riding across the sky. Thus the Egyptian sun god Re sailed across the sky in his barque until evening. In Mesopotamia the sun god Shamash also had his chariot and charioteers. In the Mesopotamian creation epic Enuma Elish (IV:50) the god Marduk, in battle with the goddess Tiamat, “mounted the irresistible (and) terrifying storm-chariot” (Bill T. Arnold and Bryan E. Beyer, eds., Readings from the Ancient Near East [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002], 40). See also “rakābu,” in The Assyrian Dictionary, ed. Erica Reiner and Martha T. Roth (Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1999), 14:83.
5. See Oepke, “νεφέλη,” 904.
6. Peter D. Arnott, An Introduction to the Greek Theatre (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1963), 59.
7. Aristophanes, “The Clouds,” in Eight Great Comedies, ed. Sylvan Barnet, Morton Berman, and William Burto (New York: Mentor, 1963), 27.
8. Oepke, “νεφέλη,” 904.
9. Robert Flacelière, A Literary History of Greece (Chicago: Aldine, 1962), 240.
10. Aristophanes, “The Clouds,” 63.
11. J. K. Alwood, “The Unclouded Day.”
12. James M. Black, “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.”
13. For a comprehensive view of the identification of the words employed for clouds and their use in the Bible and Jewish tradition see J. Luzarraga, Les Tradiciones de la nube en la biblia y en el judaismo primitivo, Analecta Biblica (Rome: Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 1973). For an informative review of Luzarraga’s work see Leopold Sabourin, “The Biblical Cloud,” Biblical Theology Bulletin 4 (1974): 290-312.
14. Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.
15. Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life (Chicago: Moody, 1979), 119. Kaiser suggests that the basic idea of these verses involves the thought that “one mental and internal infirmity after another begins at the sunset of life (to use another metaphor), hampering our effectiveness in serving our Creator. Consequently, we would be well-advised to get moving (‘remembering’) while those evil days have not yet overtaken us” (ibid., italics his). Tremper Longman III adds, “In sum, the passage presents images evoking dread and sorrow in the light of encroaching old age and impending death” (The Book of Ecclesiastes, New International Commentary on the Old Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998], 269).
16. A. H. Joy, “Cloud,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 1:726.
17. In the Sibylline Oracles (book 3, lines 796–805) clouds form part of the signs of the eschatological kingdom and the fulfillment of all God’s promises. When the “end of all things comes to pass on earth . . . you will see a battle of infantry and cavalry in the clouds.” See John J. Collins, “The Sibylline Oracles,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), 1:379–80.
18. Unlike the rulers of the ancient Near East whose rule was often symbolized by the sun, David’s claim to righteousness comes on the basis of the divinely initiated and enacted Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7:11–17). For solar imagery applied to kings in the ancient Near East see P. Kyle McCarter Jr., II Samuel, Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984), 484.
19. Pseudo-Philo (13:7) declares that with the keeping of the regulations concerning the Feast of Tabernacles, God will command the clouds to send the needed rain in its proper season. This will serve as a sign of the validity of Israel’s covenant relationship with the Lord (D. J. Harrington, “Pseudo-Philo,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2:321).
20. “Rainbow,” in Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, ed. Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998), 695.
21. In the pseudepigraphical 2 Enoch 3:1 Enoch testified that the angels “took me up onto their wings, and carried me up to the first heaven, and placed me on the clouds.” See F. I. Andersen, “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 1:110. Likewise the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra 5:7 gives Ezra’s report, “And as I said these things a cloud came and seized me and took me up again to the heavens.” See M. E. Stone, “Greek Apocalypse of Ezra,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 1:576.
22. A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (New York: Harper, 1932), 5:432. Philip Edgcumbe Hughes prefers to view the witnesses as spectators who comprise the “champions of faith and perseverance of earlier generations, crowded as it were row upon row within the encircling amphitheatre” (A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977], 519). Although the Latin Vulgate nubem testiem allows such a view, F. F. Bruce is probably closer to the truth in holding that these are not witnesses “in the sense of spectators, watching their successors as they in their turn run the race for which they have entered; but rather in the sense that by their loyalty and endurance they have borne witness to the possibilities of the life of faith” (The Epistle to the Hebrews, New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964], 346). Hughes points out correctly that the Greek word for witness used here (μάρτυς) later took on the meaning of “one who sealed his witness with his blood” (A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, 519).
23. See H. J. Stoebe, “חֶסֶד, Güte,” in Theologisches Handwörterbuch zum Alten Testament, ed. Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann (Munich: Chr. Kaiser, 1978), 1:618.
24. For love and faithfulness as a hendiadys see H. J. Zobel, “חֶסֶד,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 5:48.
25. Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991), 48.
26. For a helpful discussion of rhetorical questions see Roy B. Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1991; reprint, Colorado Springs: Cook, 1996), 153–54. Robert Alter points out the possibility of clouds being used as an image of innumerability in Job 38:37 (“Cloud,” in Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975], 1:895).
27. Tertullian, “Origen de Principiis,” in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 4:259.
28. J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1993), 142–45.
29. Geoffrey W. Grogan, “Isaiah,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 6 (1986), 105–6.
30. John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah Chapters 1–39, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 321.
31. In the Syriac Apocalypse of 2 Baruch, chapters 53–74, clouds figure in the symbolism of the length of time on earth from creation to the time of the Messiah’s rule. See A. F. J. Klijn, “2 (Syriac: Apocalypse of) Baruch,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 1:639–46.
32. Robert B. Chisholm Jr., Interpreting the Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990), 45.
33. Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), 2:191.
34. As Joseph Blenkinsopp notes, this is “one of the major themes of chs. 40–55.” It is found at intervals elsewhere in Isaiah as well (Isaiah 56–66, Anchor Bible [New York: Doubleday, 2003], 212–14).
35. The apocryphal Wisdom of Ben Sirach 43:14–17 reports God’s control of the clouds in accord with His wise purposes. “For his own purposes he has let loose his storehouse, and he makes the rain clouds fly like vultures. His might gives the clouds their strength. . . . The thunder of his voice makes the earth writhe.” See Patrick W. Skehan, The Wisdom of Ben Sira, trans. and Alexander A. Di Lella, Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1987) 485-86.
36. Mark D. Futato, “עָנָ˜,” in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology andExegesis, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 3:465.
37. For the motif of widows, orphans, and the poor see Richard D. Patterson, “The Widow, the Orphan, and the Poor in the Old Testament and in the Extrabiblical Literature,” Bibliotheca Sacra 130 (April–June 1973): 223-34. For the image of the divine warrior see Tremper Longman III and Daniel G. Reid, God Is a Warrior (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995). In 3 Enoch 24 the angel מּךֵתאִתרִוֹנ describes to Rabbi Ishmael the nature of the clouds, which God uses as His chariots (e.g., “He has the chariots of clouds, as it is written, ‘I am coming to you in a dense cloud.’ [v. 4]. . . He has the chariots of clouds, as it is written, ‘He makes the clouds his chariots.’ [v. 14]”). See P. Alexander, “3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 1:308–9.
38. On the Exodus and its use as a recurring motif in Scripture see Richard D. Patterson and Michael E. Travers, “Contours of the Exodus Motif in Jesus’ Earthly Ministry,” Westminster Theological Journal 66 (2004): 25-47.
39. See Sabourin, “The Biblical Cloud,” 300–303.
40. See ibid., 297–99.
41. Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 229.
42. Sabourin, “The Biblical Cloud,” 307.
43. In a bit of allegorical analogy Sabourin proposes that clouds can also be related to the work of the Holy Spirit. “Also the New Testament describes the action of the Spirit in terms that allude to that of the exodus cloud, for example 1 Pt 4:14 . . . For the Christian ‘the cloud of glory’ of ancient Israel has become ‘the Spirit of glory’ (cf. Is. 4:5). While the Israelites were under a cloud and passed through the sea (1 Cor. 10:2), Christian baptism is in water and the Spirit, as the Gospel narratives of Christ’s baptism demonstrate. Literary contacts can also be found showing that the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was understood as a new theophany, in which God’s presence was sensibly manifested by signs, like a strong wind and tongues of fire” (ibid., 310–11).
44. It is perhaps better to accept the order of the Masoretic text and translate this verse, “The nearness of God is my good.” As J. Sidlow Baxter writes, “Trouble is permitted even in the godliest of lives; but our Lord pledges His companionship in it. . . . His presence paints a rainbow over every weeping sky, and shoots a golden sunshaft through every storm-cloud” (Awake My Heart [reprint, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1994], 38).
45. Charles Wesley, “Lo! He Comes, With Clouds Descending.”
46. Wallace Stevens, “Men Made Out of Words,” in Collected Poetry and Prose, ed. Frank Kermode and Joan Richardson (New York: Library of America, 1997), 306.