Jul 25 2008
God’s Thundering Voice
Resorting to deep-bellied sounds is almost universal across human cultures in situations where we want to create a lasting impression. – Robin Dunbar (7)
Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his? (Job 40:9)
Have you noticed that when “God’s voice” is inserted into a movie or television show by Hollywood, it’s always baritone? Not once have I heard an off-camera pronouncement by the Big Cheese come in the form of a mouse-like squeak. Why is that? Because an almighty alpha is big. He has to be.
Interestingly, human males are, on average, larger than females and have lower-pitched voices. Is that one of the reasons we tend to follow male leaders? Marilyn Monroe’s ultra-girly voice may have worked well for singing a seductive, “Happy Birthday Mr. President,” but is that a voice we would follow into battle?
Boys’ voices change during puberty, becoming deeper. Is it because they are then battle-ready? Does the higher pitch earlier in life keep future competitors from viewing them as competition, and instead see them as cute?
There is more to human voice pitch and hierarchical behavior than mere speculation. At least one study has found a link between male vocal qualities and number of offspring. Among human primates. The lower the voice, the greater the number of offspring.(8) Of course, this may not be a causal relationship but may rather be mediated by another variable, such as testosterone levels during critical developmental periods.
Turning to religion, is the god of the Bible a manly man? Consider these verses, one from the Old Testament, one from the New:
The LORD will roar from on high; he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land. (Jeremiah 25:30)
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered. (John 12:29)
In a number of verses in a number of versions of the Bible, the great alpha speaks not in a thundering voice, but with thunder. Still, the effect is the same. If your voice thunders, chances are you are big and powerful. There is a connection between voice pitch and potential power. Thus an almighty will not squeak but thunder.
The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? (Joel 2:11)
But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. (1 Samuel 7:10)
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. (Jeremiah 51:16)
At the thunder of your voice, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter. (Isaiah 33:3)
The monotheist god of western cultures is certainly presented as the BMOC. The Big Man of the Cosmos. You definitely want him on your side, even if he is invisible.
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. (Psalms 18:13)
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(7) Dunbar, R. Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language, Harvard University
Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996, p. 145
(8) “Men With Deeper Voices Have More Children, In Hunter-gatherer Society Studied”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070924122805.htm
