Ezekiel 43:2
King James Version
2 And, behold,
the glory of the God of Israel came
from the way of the east:
and his voice was like a noise of many waters:
and the earth shined with his glory.
GOD's voice is "like a noise of many waters".
What did that mean?
Like a waterfall?
Let's listen to what other Bible versions have to say:
Ezekiel 43:2
Christian Standard Bible
2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of a huge torrent, and the earth shone with his glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
Common English Bible
2 where the glory of Israel’s God was coming in from the east. Its sound was like the sound of a mighty flood, and the earth was lit up with his glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
Complete Jewish Bible
2 There I saw the glory of the God of Isra’el approaching from the east. His voice was like the sound of rushing water, and the earth shone with his glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
Contemporary English Version
2 where I saw the brightness of the glory of Israel's God coming from the east. The sound I heard was as loud as ocean waves, and everything around was shining with the dazzling brightness of his glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
Darby Translation
2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east; and his voice was like the voice of many waters; and the earth was lit up with his glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
Easy-to-Read Version
2 There the Glory of the God of Israel came from the east. God’s voice was loud like the sound of the sea. The ground was bright with the light from the Glory of God.
Ezekiel 43:2
1599 Geneva Bible
2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel, came from out of the East, whose voice was like a noise of great waters, and the earth was made light with his glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
Good News Translation
2 and there I saw coming from the east the dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel. God's voice sounded like the roar of the sea, and the earth shone with the dazzling light.
Ezekiel 43:2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of mighty waters, and the earth shone with His glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
International Children’s Bible
2 And I saw the greatness of the God of Israel coming from the east. God’s voice was like the roar of rushing water. His greatness made the earth shine.
Ezekiel 43:2
International Standard Version
2 and the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. His voice sounded like roaring[a] water, and the land shimmered from his glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
The Message
The Meaning of the Temple
43 1-3 The man brought me to the east gate. Oh! The bright Glory of the God of Israel rivered out of the east sounding like the roar of floodwaters, and the earth itself glowed with the bright Glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
New Catholic Bible
2 and there I beheld the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. The sound of his coming was like the sound of a mighty torrent of waters, and the earth shone with his glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
2 And there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was like the sound of mighty waters; and the earth shone with his glory.
Yechezkel 43:2
Orthodox Jewish Bible
2 And, hinei, the Kavod Elohei Yisroel came from the derech of the east; and His voice was like a kol mayim rabbim and ha’aretz was radiant with His Kavod.
Ezekiel 43:2
Tree of Life Version
2 and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters. The earth was radiant with His glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
The Voice
2 There, I witnessed the glory of the God of Israel storming from the east. His voice thundered like a great waterfall. The entire earth reflected His shining glory.
In SUMMARY, "like a noise of many waters" means:
like the roar of a huge torrent
like the sound of a mighty flood
like the sound of rushing water
as loud as ocean waves
like the voice of many water
like the sound of the sea
like a noise of great waters
like the roar of the sea
like the roar of mighty waters
like the roar of rushing water
like roaring[a] water
like the roar of floodwaters
like the sound of a mighty torrent of waters
like the sound of mighty waters
like a kol mayim rabbim
like the sound of many waters
thundered like a great waterfall
The next post will tell us more about the VOICE of GOD, wherein Scripture compared it to many other things.
Related material:
We also discovered some JEWISH songs dedicated to the LORD's voice, "like many waters":
Nava Tehila - Mikolot Mayim Rabim מקולות מים רבים - נאוה תהילה
Mikolos Mayim Rabim (Shabbat song)
Image: Ivan Torres