1:4 As I watched, I noticed10 a windstorm11 coming from the north—an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing,12 such that bright light13 rimmed it and came from14 it like glowing amber15 from the middle of a fire.
tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
11
sn Storms are often associated with appearances of God (see Nah 1:3; Ps 18:12). In some passages, the “storm” (סְעָרָה, sé’arah) may be a whirlwind (Job 38:1, 2 Kgs 2:1).
12
tnHeb “fire taking hold of itself,” perhaps repeatedly. The phrase occurs elsewhere only in Exod 9:24 in association with a hailstorm. The LXX interprets the phrase as fire flashing like lightning, but it is possibly a self-sustaining blaze of divine origin. The LXX also reverses the order of the descriptors, i.e., “light went around it and fire flashed like lightning within it.”
tc Or “was in it”; cf. LXXἐν τῷ μέσῳ αὐτοῦ (en tō mesō autou, “in its midst”).
15
tn The LXX translates חַשְׁמַל (khashmal) with the word ἤλεκτρον (ēlektron, “electrum”; so NAB), an alloy of silver and gold, perhaps envisioning a comparison to the glow of molten metal.