וְאָמַר רַבִּי חֶלְבּוֹ, אָמַר רַב הוּנָא: כׇּל הַנֶּהֱנֶה מִסְּעוּדַת חָתָן וְאֵינוֹ מְשַׂמְּחוֹ עוֹבֵר בַּחֲמִשָּׁה קוֹלוֹת,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״קוֹל שָׂשׂוֹן וְקוֹל שִׂמְחָה קוֹל חָתָן וְקוֹל כַּלָּה קוֹל אוֹמְרִים הוֹדוּ אֶת ה׳ צְבָאוֹת״.
וְאִם מְשַׂמְּחוֹ מַה שְּׂכָרוֹ? אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי: זוֹכֶה לַתּוֹרָה שֶׁנִּתְּנָה בַּחֲמִשָּׁה קוֹלוֹת,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיְהִי בַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בִּהְיוֹת הַבֹּקֶר וַיְהִי קֹלֹת וּבְרָקִים וְעָנָן כָּבֵד עַל הָהָר וְקֹל שׁוֹפָר וְגוֹ׳. וַיְהִי קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר וְגוֹ׳ וְהָאֱלֹהִים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל״.
And Rabbi Ḥelbo said that Rav Huna said: Anyone who benefits from the feast of a groom but does not cause him to rejoice violates the five voices mentioned in this verse, as it is stated: “The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who say: Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy lasts forever, even of those who bring a thanks-offering to the house of the Lord. For I will restore the captivity of the land as it was in the beginning, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 33:11). These five voices in the context of a bride and groom correspond to the five voices mentioned in the context of the revelation at Sinai, as in Song of Songs, the day of the revelation at Sinai is alluded to by the phrase: His wedding day (Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, Maharsha). What is his reward if he causes the groom to rejoice? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He is privileged to acquire the Torah, which was given with five voices, as it is stated: “And it was on the third day, when it was morning, there were sounds [kolot], and lightning and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and the voice of the shofar” (Exodus 19:16). The plural kolot indicates at least two sounds, while “the voice of the shofar” is one more. The passage continues: “And when the voice of the shofar grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him by a voice” (Exodus 19:19). Along with the three previous voices, the second shofar and the voice with which God answered Moses amount to a total of five voices at the revelation at Sinai.
(א) בהית הבקר. מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהִקְדִּים עַל יָדָם, מַה שֶּׁאֵין דֶּרֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם לַעֲשׂוֹת כֵּן – שֶיְּהֵא הָרַב מַמְתִּין לַתַּלְמִיד;
(1) בהיות הבקר lit., WHEN IT WAS BEING MORNING — This phrase tells us that He was there before them at the place of the Divine Revelation, something which it is not customary for human beings to do — that the teacher should await the arrival of his disciple.
(א) וענן כבד על ההר. לבדו היה. וככה הקולות והברקים:
(ב) וטעם חזק מאד. יותר מכל קול השופר ששמעו:
(ג) ויחרד כל העם אשר במחנה. בעבור קול השופר:
(1) AND A THICK CLOUD UPON THE MOUNT. Upon the mount alone. The same applies to the thunder and lightning.
(2) [EXCEEDING LOUD.] Its meaning is, louder than the voice of any shofar (horn) that they ever heard.
(3) AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WERE IN THE CAMP TREMBLED. Because of the sound of the shofar (horn).
(יא) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר צֵ֣א וְעָמַדְתָּ֣ בָהָר֮ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָה֒ וְהִנֵּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֣ה עֹבֵ֗ר וְר֣וּחַ גְּדוֹלָ֡ה וְחָזָ֞ק מְפָרֵק֩ הָרִ֨ים וּמְשַׁבֵּ֤ר סְלָעִים֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה לֹ֥א בָר֖וּחַ יְהֹוָ֑ה וְאַחַ֤ר הָר֙וּחַ֙ רַ֔עַשׁ לֹ֥א בָרַ֖עַשׁ יְהֹוָֽה׃
(יב) וְאַחַ֤ר הָרַ֙עַשׁ֙ אֵ֔שׁ לֹ֥א בָאֵ֖שׁ יְהֹוָ֑ה וְאַחַ֣ר הָאֵ֔שׁ ק֖וֹל דְּמָמָ֥ה דַקָּֽה׃
(11) “Come out,” He called, “and stand on the mountain before the LORD.”
And lo, the LORD passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
(12) After the earthquake—fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound.
yon Sinai, because of God, the God of Israel.
כך שופר זה שהיה מן אילו של יצחק ומתיחס אחר הצדיק קולו הולך וחזק כי זקני ת"ח מוסיפין חכמה תמיד, אבל הענן הגס והעב המתיחס אחר זקני עם הארץ בעלי חומר הנה קולם וניצוץ אורם אינו כי אם לפי שעה.
...So too this shofar was from the Ram of Isaac, and was connected to the Tzaddik, his voice goes and strengthens, because the old age of a Talmid Chacham adds on to his wisdom always, but the thick cloud goes after the simple elders, sunk in physicality, their voice and sparks of their light are only for the moment...
עי"כ נשמע קול חזק כקול השופר ומזה חרדו כל העם, כי לא הוכנו לשמוע קול ה' בלא חרדה, שזה היה התנאי שיוכלו לקבל כל התורה מפי הקב"ה, אבל הם חרדו ונשארו במחנה ולא יצאו לקראת האלהים:
...Therefore, hearing the strong voice of the shofar, and from this the nation trembled, because you cannot prepare to hear the voice of Hashem without trembling, this is the condition that they are able to accept the entire Torah from Hashem's mouth, but they trembled and remained in the camp, and didn't go out to greet Hashem.
(1) ויהי קולות וברקים. The sounds which resembled thunder were the sounds made by the angels who accompanied G’d and who sang His praises. It is something the angels do every morning. We base this knowledge on Job 38,7 “when the morning stars sang together and all the divine beings shouted for joy?” The beings described as ברקים are also angels seeing that we are told in Psalms 104,4 עושה מלאכיו רוחות משרתיו אש לוהט, “He Who employs His angels as winds which are His messengers, fiery flames His servants.” We also have the following verse in Ezekiel 1,13: ונגה לאש ומן האש יוצא ברק, “there was a brilliance to the fire, and from the fire went forth lightning.”
(2) וענן כבד על ההר. This cloud was in order to create a physical barrier between the Israelites and the angels. If the Israelites had seen the angels with their eyes they would have been frightened out of their wits. We have a similar verse in Ezekiel 1,4-5.
(1) ויהי ביום השלישי בהיות הבקר, “it was on the third day, during the morning,” the third day after they started sanctifying themselves, the sixth day of the month.
ויהי קולות וברקים, “and there was thunder and lightning.” The “voices” which we translated as “thunder” were those of the angels praising the Lord each and every morning, as we know from Job 38,7: “when the morning stars sang together and all the divine beings shouted for joy.” The “lightning” also referred to angels, a different group.
We know that angels are described as lightning from Psalms 104,4: “He makes the winds His messengers, fiery flames His servants.” We also find this thought reflected in Ezekiel 1,13: “this fire, suggestive of torches, kept moving among the creatures; the fire had a radiance, and lightning issued from the fire.”
וענן כבד, and “heavy cloud.” The purpose of that was to separate between the angels and the people. If the Israelites had seen the angels they would have become frightened. We have a verse describing something similar occurring in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1,4) ”a huge cloud and flashing fire, surrounded by a radiance;” this was followed (verse 5) by: “in the center of it were also the figures of four creatures.”
The foregoing is a relatively new interpretation of this verse by Rabbeinu Chananel. It does not contradict, and must not be understood as contradicting the plain meaning of the words, i.e. that it was a cloudy day, that the קולות וברקים were thunder and lightning accompanied by some rain.
This is in line with the plain meaning of Judges 5,4 where Devorah describes the weather on the day of the battle against Siserah, saying: “the earth trembled; the heavens dripped; yea the clouds dripped water. Mountains quaked, etc.”
Rabbeinu Chananel’s explanation may be viewed as perhaps the foremost amongst the proverbial 70 facets according to which the written Torah may be explained. The cloud came first, followed by lightning and thunder, as is usual on such days. The reason the Torah does not report events in that order may have been to give prominence to the sound of the shofar.
Had the Torah described events in their chronological order then the reader would have made a conceptual linkage between the words קולות and קול שופר, something which would have been wrong. By mentioning the thunder first, the Torah made certain that we would not associate the blast of the shofar with ordinary thunder experienced on that day. The difference between the sound of the thunder and the sound of the blast of the shofar may be described as similar to the difference between physical and spiritual sensations man experiences.
דָּ"אַ לְפִי שֶׁהָיוּ שוֹמְעִין קוֹלוֹת הַרְבֵּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר אֶת הַקּוֹלֹת – קוֹלוֹת בָּאִין מֵאַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת וּמִן הַשָּׁמַיִם וּמִן הָאָרֶץ – אַל תֹּאמְרוּ רָשׁוּיוֹת הַרְבֵּה הֵן;
Another explanation: because they then heard many voices, as it is said (v. 15) “the people heard the voices (הקלות)” — voices coming from the four cardinal points and from the heavens and from the earth — therefore God said to them, “Do not say there are many Deities”. —