Wow! 100 pounds !
Where does the Bible teach that? you ask.
Well, specifically Revelation 16:21 (kjv) states:
“21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”
The NASB, the NIV and several other versions translate the word ‘talent’ as ‘100 pounds’.
Now those are big hailstones!
Then she asked me what is the largest hailstone recorded to date.
I had no idea.
She said “the largest recorded hailstone weighed about 2 pounds” and suggested I look this up and possibly post the findings as a “Daily Interesting Things”.
So, I did some research (summarized below).
And you know, she was very close to the correct answer.
National Geographic reported several large hailstones. One was a 7 inch (17.8 centimeter) hailstone which fell in 2003 and was almost as wide as a soccer ball. Another in 1928 measured 7 inches in diameter and weighed 1.5 pounds.
NOAA reported in 2007 one measuring 5.25 inches in diameter and another in 2003 with a circumference of 18.75 inches and weighing 1.0 pound
In 2008 NOAA reported that an even larger hailstone had been found in 1970 with a circumference of 17.5 inches, a diameter of 5.7 inches, and weighing 1.67 pounds.
Guinness World Book of Records didn’t list a hailstone record on the web. There might be something in a hardcopy book.
Answers.com says the largest hailstone was the one found in 2003.
But Fun Trivia said the heaviest hailstone was (quoting from the site):
“HEAVIEST HAILSTONE; the heaviest hailstone ever documented from across the globe weighed 2.2 pounds. Multiple hailstones this size fell over a part of Bangladesh, India on April, 14th 1986. The hail storm reportedly killed over 90 people and 1600 cattle.
LARGEST: largest measured hail stone in America fell in Aurora on June 22, with a record 7-inch diameter and a circumference of 18.75 inches, and weighed about 1 pound.
Bottom line: If 2.2 pounds is the largest hailstone so far, then 100 pound hailstones are a sight NOT to behold or experience!!!
They would be like TV sets or Microwave ovens or whatever falling from the sky! WOW. They would go right through roofs, buildings, cars, airplanes, whatever. Just think of it!
And while you are thinking, if you would like to refresh your memory about Hailstones and how they form (though I doubt that the hailstones described in Rev. 16:21 will form in the ‘normal way’), HERE’S THE LINK.
BUT STOP THE PRESSES !!!! there may be a new candidate for the largest hail stone -- seems there was a big hail storm in South Dakota on July 23, 2010 with some massive hail stones (now being measured and weighed) but, though massive, they will still be nowhere close to the 100 pounds ones in Revelation. HERE’S THE LINK
