אֱמֹ֛ר אֶל־טָחֵ֥י תָפֵ֖ל וְיִפֹּ֑ל הָיָ֣ה ׀ גֶּ֣שֶׁם שׁוֹטֵ֗ף וְאַתֵּ֜נָה אַבְנֵ֤י אֶלְגָּבִישׁ֙ תִּפֹּ֔לְנָה וְר֥וּחַ סְעָר֖וֹת תְּבַקֵּֽעַ׃
Katakanlah kepada mereka yang melabur dengan lepa yang rapuh itu bahwa dinding itu akan runtuh: hujan lebat akan mengguyur, dan Aku akan mendatangkan batu-batu hujan es yang besar, yang akan berjatuhan menimpanya, dan angin badai akan membelahnya.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ומטר לא נתך ארצה, “and the rain did not reach the earth.” The Torah did not write that the rain did not descend to earth; it wrote לא נתך ארצה, “it was not allowed to complete its descent” (even after it had melted to become like regular rain). Our sages in Tanchuma 17 state that the descent of the rain was arrested in mid-air for 41 years until Joshua 10,11 when it finally descended in the form of large (hail)stones from the sky.
The prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 13,11) commanded these stones to fall. These stones were then called אלגביש, seeing that during these many years they had been “standing” on the back of איש. The איש in question was Moses who has been described in Numbers 12,3 as והאיש משה. Seeing that the hailstones give the illusion to the onlooker that they are pearls, they are called אבני אלגביש, as pearls are described in these terms in Job 28,18. The thunder also was suspended in mid-air only to descend to earth in the days of Elisha (Kings II 7,6) where we are told: “the Lord had made the camp of Aram hear the sounds of chariots, a sound of horses, a sound of a mighty army.” [The sound was equated with thunder. Ed.]
The prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 13,11) commanded these stones to fall. These stones were then called אלגביש, seeing that during these many years they had been “standing” on the back of איש. The איש in question was Moses who has been described in Numbers 12,3 as והאיש משה. Seeing that the hailstones give the illusion to the onlooker that they are pearls, they are called אבני אלגביש, as pearls are described in these terms in Job 28,18. The thunder also was suspended in mid-air only to descend to earth in the days of Elisha (Kings II 7,6) where we are told: “the Lord had made the camp of Aram hear the sounds of chariots, a sound of horses, a sound of a mighty army.” [The sound was equated with thunder. Ed.]