Thunder
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G1027, brontḗ, is a Greek noun for thunder. It names the sound itself, appears in the nickname Sons of Thunder, reports a crowd's interpretation of a heavenly voice, and supplies thunder-like sound imagery throughout Revelation.
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Full entry for βροντή (G1027) · Open the biblical lexicon
G1027, brontḗ, is a Greek noun for thunder. It names the sound itself, appears in the nickname Sons of Thunder, reports a crowd's interpretation of a heavenly voice, and supplies thunder-like sound imagery throughout Revelation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include peals of thunder (4), of Thunder (3), thunders (3), like thunder (1), thundered (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 3:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (10), John (1), Mark (1).
G1027, brontḗ, is a Greek noun for thunder. It names the sound itself, appears in the nickname Sons of Thunder, reports a crowd's interpretation of a heavenly voice, and supplies thunder-like sound imagery throughout Revelation. The noun can be singular or plural, and a voice may be compared to thunder without becoming meteorological thunder. Sound, speaker, source, and literary genre determine what the passage is saying.
Mark 3 records Jesus naming James and John Boanerges, Sons of Thunder. The verse does not explain the nickname or praise aggression. Later episodes show the brothers needing correction, and the Gospel's path of discipleship remains shaped by Jesus' service and suffering. G1027 cannot turn forceful personality, loud preaching, or anger into a spiritual gift. In John 12, the Father answers Jesus' prayer to glorify His name.
The crowd hears the event, but some say it thundered and others that an angel spoke. Their disagreement shows that an impressive sound does not interpret itself. Jesus explains that the voice was for their benefit and speaks of judgment, His lifting up, and the defeat of the ruler of this world. Teachers should follow His explanation rather than construct a theology from the crowd's guesses.
Revelation repeatedly joins thunder with lightning, rumblings, earthquake, throne, seals, temple, judgment, and worship. These sounds contribute to apocalyptic scenes of divine majesty and decisive action. Sometimes a creature's voice is like thunder; sometimes many worshipers sound like mighty thunder. The comparison communicates force and scale, not permission to identify every thunderstorm with one vision's event.
Revelation 10 establishes an especially important limit. Seven thunders speak, John prepares to write, and a heavenly voice commands him to seal what they said and not record it. The passage preserves withheld revelation. It directly resists interpreters who claim to recover the sealed message through codes, private visions, numerology, or weather events. Revelation 19 compares the praise of a great multitude to mighty thunder as they celebrate the reign of the Lord God Almighty and the marriage of the Lamb.
The sound serves corporate worship centered on God, not a human performer. G1027 therefore helps readers hear awe without surrendering discernment. Thunder can be a natural sound, a nickname, a mistaken explanation, a simile, or part of visionary imagery. Scripture gives the interpretation; volume alone never proves divine authority.
G1027 names thunder and thunder-like sound. Mark uses it in a nickname, John records thunder as one crowd explanation of the Father's voice, and Revelation employs it for powerful voices, throne imagery, judgment, sealed revelation, and corporate praise.
James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),
Jesus gives James and John the name Boanerges, Sons of Thunder, without the verse defining the nickname as praise for aggression.
The crowd standing there heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to Him.
Some in the crowd interpret the Father's heavenly voice as thunder, while others say an angel spoke, so Jesus supplies the event's meaning.
From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne burned seven torches of fire. These are the seven spirits of God.
Thunder joins lightning and rumblings proceeding from the throne within John's vision of heavenly worship and rule.
Then I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”
One living creature calls with a voice like thunder as the Lamb opens the first seal.
When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to put it in writing. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
John is commanded to seal what the seven thunders said and not write it, establishing a firm boundary around withheld revelation.
And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of many waters and the loud rumbling of thunder. And the sound I heard was like harpists strumming their harps.
A heavenly sound is compared both to mighty thunder and to harpists as the redeemed sing before the throne.
And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
The praise of a great multitude sounds like mighty thunder as they proclaim the Almighty's reign and the Lamb's marriage.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. thunder
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
12 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
John 12 demonstrates that powerful sound does not interpret itself. The Father speaks in response to Jesus' prayer, yet the crowd divides between thunder and an angelic voice. Jesus then explains why the voice came and locates the moment within judgment, His coming death, and the drawing of people to Himself. Teachers should not treat sensory intensity as a shortcut around revealed meaning.
Revelation 10 provides an even firmer boundary. The seven thunders speak, but John is told not to write their words. Faithfulness means accepting that limit. Elsewhere thunder-like voices magnify the throne, the Lamb's opening of the seals, heavenly song, and the multitude's praise. Their volume belongs to the vision's scale and worship. G1027 therefore resists two opposite mistakes: reducing every thunder image to ordinary weather and turning ordinary weather into secret prophecy.
The text names when thunder is a sound, a simile, a crowd's guess, or visionary imagery. Christian speech carries authority through truth and fidelity to Christ, not through volume, intimidation, or claims to sealed knowledge.
John.12.29
G1027 belongs to the feminine noun class. Its singular and plural case forms serve names, direct references to thunder, and sound comparisons. A phrase such as voice like thunder marks analogy rather than identity.
Israel's Scriptures associate thunder with creation, Sinai, storm imagery, divine kingship, and judgment, preparing readers for Revelation's throne and theophanic soundscape. Those canonical links should not erase the distinct Greek noun or make every storm a repetition of Sinai or the Apocalypse.