Matth. xxii. 24.VOICE. The Daughter of the Voice, called in Hebrew, Bath-col, was a preternatural Way in which God discovered his Will to the Jews, after that Prophecy had ceased in Israel. See BATH-COL.
By the Word Voice is not only understood the Voice of a Man, or Beast, but all other sorts of Sounds, Noises, or Cries: And even Thunder has often the Name of the Voice of God given to it. Moses says, for example, Exod. xx. 18.that all the People saw or heard the Voice which was uttered from Sinai. That is to say, the Noise of the Thunder. Samuel says to the assembled Israelites, Is it not 1 Sam. xii. 17.wheat-harvest to day? I will call unto the Lord, and he will send thunder [Heb. a Voice,] and Rain. Job says, Hear attentively Job xxxvii. 2, 3, &c. Psal. xxviii. 3.the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his Mouth. He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his Lightning unto the ends of the earth. After it a voice roareth, he thundereth with the voice of his excellency, and he will not stay them when his voice is heard. God thundereth marvelously with his voice; great things doth he, which we cannot comprehend. And the Psalmist; Vox Domini super aquas, Deus majestatis intonuit, vox Domini in virtute; vox Domini in magnificentia; vox Domini confringentis cedros; vox Domini intercidentis flammam ignis; vox Domini concutientis desertum; vox Domini præparantis cervos, &c.
To hear the Voice of any one, is to obey him. Psal. lxxxi. 13. O that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! Exod. xv. 26. If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes; I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians. Deut. xxviii. 15.But, on the contrary; If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, then all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
The Mother of the seven Brethren 2 Macc. vii. 8, 21, &c.Maccabees spoke to them patria voce, that is, in Hebrew, or in Syriac; for they were examined in Greek, and this whole Scene of their Martyrdom was transacted at Antioch, where Greek was the vulgar Tongue. She therefore spoke to them in Hebrew, which was their natural Language, that the By-standers might not know what she said to them.
St. Paul says, that there is nothing in 1 Cor. xiii. 7, 8, 10.the World but what has its Voice: Nihil sine voce est: Instruments of Musick, the Trumpet, the Harp, &c. Quæ sine anima sunt vocem dantia, sive tibia, sive cithara, - --- si incertam vocem det tuba, quis parabit se ad bellum?
The Voice of the Blood of Abel cries to the Lord from the Earth. Judas MaccabeusGen. iv. 10. intreats of the Lord to have Compassion of the Holy City, and to hear the 1 Macc. viii. 3.Voice of the Blood that cried to him for Vengeance.