The “Voice of the Lord” theophany offers profound insights into the nature of God’s interactions with humanity in the Old Testament.
By examining key biblical passages, such as Genesis 3:8, 1 Kings 19, and Acts 7:30-33, we can uncover the remarkable ways in which the Voice of the Lord is not merely a voice or a metaphor but a manifestation of God on earth.
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The Voice of the Lord in Genesis 3:8
In the King James Version, Genesis 3:8 says that Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden. In the WEB translation, the verse says they heard God’s voice walking in the garden.
Genesis 3:8 KJV
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the
At first glance, the verse seems to suggest that Adam and Eve heard God’s footsteps when He was walking in the garden.
Some translations use “the sound of God walking” instead of voice, but it’s not a very good translation.
Let’s see why not.
The word for “voice” in Hebrew is “qol,” which is translated as “voice” most of the time in the Old Testament.
The image below shows two other examples in Genesis 3 where qol is translated as voice. One would not translate these or Genesis 4:10, 23, and 16:2 as “sound.”
The Bible gives a tip in Genesis 3 with the two other qol words on how to translate the first. It should be translated as “the voice.”
But how can a voice walk?
This aligns well with the concept of another divine person in the Old Testament, the Word of the Lord. In several passages, the Word of the Lord speaks, stretches His arm, touches Jeremiah’s mouth, and is interchangeable with Yahweh. John’s Gospel continues this by introducing us that Jesus is the Word became flesh.
The ancient Jews thought the Voice of the Lord in Genesis 3:8 is the Word of the Lord.
An ancient collection of Aramaic translations and paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Targums, give us an idea of what the Second Temple-era Jewish people thought about Genesis 3:8.
These people were non-Christian Jews translating the Hebrew Bible to Aramaic and writing down their interpretations of different passages.
The comments in the image below are from here, giving you the Targums for Genesis 3:8. (See also the comments for Genesis 3:9-10 behind the link.) The comments expound on the idea of the Voice of the Lord being the Word of the Lord.
The non-Christian Jews around Jesus’s time thought that Adam and Eve heard the voice of God walking in the Garden. They believed that the Word of the Lord was walking in the Garden.
These Jews knew what Christians know now: that there are two powers in Heaven, both of them are God, and one of them is revealed to men.
This is why Orthodox Christian icons have Jesus in the Garden, walking with Adam and Eve and clothing them after their fall.
If you think this is exciting, you’ll be very interested to know how Genesis 3:8 is also a Trinitarian verse.
The Father sends the Voice/Word of the Lord on the earth.
The Voice of the Lord walks in the Garden in the cool (ruah) of the day. The word cool is “ruah” in Hebrew, the same word for the Spirit (of God), e.g., in Genesis 1:2.
Right after Adam and Eve sinned, the Voice of the Lord walks in the Garden in the Spirit of the day.
On day 1 of the seven days of creation, God illuminated the world with His uncreated light while His Spirit hovered over the deep, dark waters. “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night” (Genesis 1:5). His Spirit brings the light on earth, and the light is called day.
To sum up, as you send your words to the world with your breath, likewise, the Father sends the divine Word in the Spirit of the day to seek Adam and Eve, to bring them the light of the day, and to separate the light from the darkness that their sin brought to the earth.
The Voice of the Lord in 1 Kings 19
In 1 Kings 19:9, you encounter a voice of God. The text uses a personal pronoun when referring to the voice and switches interchangeably between the voice, the Word of the LORD, and the LORD.
Let’s read and unpack the key verses.
- In verses 5 and 7, the Angel of the LORD appears to Elijah, after which he makes a 40-day and night journey to Mt Horeb (Mt Sinai), God’s Mountain.
- In verse 9, the Word of the Lord comes to Elijah, who is in a cave, and asks him, “What doest thou here, Elijah?”
- In verse 10, Elijah answers, “I have been very jealous…”
- In verse 11, the Word of the Lord speaks to Elijah again, and then the LORD passes by him.
- In verse 13, a voice comes to Elijah, who is in a cave, and asks him, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” These are the exact same words as the Word of the LORD used in verse 9.
- In verse 14, Elijah answers, “I have been very jealous…” These are the exact same words as in verse 10. In both of these answers, Elijah says, “Israel has forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars.” It seems like Elijah is talking to God in both verses 10 and 14.
- In verse 15, the LORD speaks to Elijah.
The structure of these two moments with the Word of the LORD and the voice in the cave at Mt Horeb are almost identical.
Furthermore, Elijah’s journey to Mt Sinai resembles Moses’ journey to Mt Sinai with Israel.
- Both were helped by the Angel of the LORD.
- Both took around 40 days to arrive at God’s Mountain.
- Both had baked cakes (Israelites baked cakes with manna) and water.
- Both spoke with God at Mt. Sinai.
- Both covered their faces after hearing God’s voice.
- Elijah saw the LORD pass by at the opening of a cave. Moses saw the Lord’s glory pass by at the opening of a rock.
When we consider 1 Kings 19 in light of Genesis 3:8 and Moses’ encounter with God at Mt. Sinai, it is unsurprising that the chapter handles the Word of the Lord, the voice, and the LORD as the same.
The New Testament adds even more connections to Elijah’s and Moses’ meetings with God at Mt Sinai.
The phrase “the voice of the Lord” is used once in the New Testament, in Acts 7:31, which depicts the Burning Bush event. The Septuagint, the Old Testament’s Greek translation, uses the exact same words in Genesis 3:8 for “the voice of the Lord,” as does Acts 7:31. (The New Testament is written in Greek.)
See the images below. The first is from Genesis 3:8, and the second is from Acts 7:31.
Let’s read the Acts 7:30-33.
Acts 7:30-33
30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
In verse 30, the Angel of the LORD appears to Moses.
In verses 31-32, the Voice of the Lord came to Moses saying, “I am the God of thy fathers…” and verse 33 continues, “then said the Lord to him…”
Acts 7:30-33 handles the Angel of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the Lord as they are the same. The voice of the Lord coming unto Moses doesn’t mean that an audible voice is coming to Moses’ ears because, in verse 33, the Lord says that the ground where Moses is standing is holy. The ground was holy because God’s presence was there with Moses.
Moses and Elijah experience very similar events at Mt. Sinai, God’s Mountain. Later, they are the ones who accompany Jesus on His transfiguration on a mountain (Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36).
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