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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Job 38 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/job/38.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/job/38-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Job 38</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../job/37.htm" title="Job 37">◄</a> Job 38 <a href="../job/39.htm" title="Job 39">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-1.htm">Job 38:1</a></div><div class="verse">Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind</span>. It is remarked, with reason, that the special mention of Job as the person answered "implies that another speaker had intervened" (Wordsworth); while the attachment of the article to the word "whirlwind" implies some previous mention of that phenomenon, which is only to be found in the discourse of Elihu (<a href="/job/37-9.htm">Job 37:9</a>). Both points have an important bearing on the genuineness of the disputed section, ch. 32- 37. <span class="cmt_word">And said</span>. The question whether there was an objective utterance of human words out of the whirlwind, or only a subjective impression of the thoughts recorded on the minds of those present, is unimportant. In any case, there was a revelation direct from God, which furnished an authoritative solution of the questions debated to all who had been engaged in the debate. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-2.htm">Job 38:2</a></div><div class="verse">Who <i>is</i> this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?</span> It is very noticeable that God entirely ignores the reasonings of Elihu, and addresses himself, in the first instance, wholly to Job, with whom he begins by remonstrating. Job has not been without fault. He has spoken many "words without knowledge" or with insufficient knowledge, and has thus trenched on irreverence, and given the enemies of God occasion to blaspheme. Moreover, he has "darkened counsel." Instead of making the ways of God clear to his friends and companions, he has east doubts upon God's moral government (<a href="/job/21-7.htm">Job 21:7-26</a>), upon his mercy and loving-kindness (<a href="/job/16-7.htm">Job 16:7-14</a>), almost upon his justice (<a href="/job/19-7.htm">Job 19:7</a>; <a href="/job/31-1.htm">Job 31:1-35</a>). He is thus open to censure, and receives censure, and owns himself "vile" (<a href="/job/40-4.htm">Job 40:4</a>), before peace and reconciliation can be established. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-3.htm">Job 38:3</a></div><div class="verse">Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Gird up now thy loins like a man</span>. Job had desired to contend with God, to plead with him, and argue out his case (<a href="/job/9-32.htm">Job 9:32-35</a>; <a href="/job/13-3.htm">Job 13:3, 18-22</a>; <a href="/job/23-4.htm">Job 23:4-7</a>; <a href="/job/31-35.htm">Job 31:35</a>). God now offers to grant his request, and bids him stand forth "as a man'" and "gird himself" for the contest, which he has challenged. <span class="cmt_word">For I will demand of thee, and answer thou me</span>. He will begin with interrogatories which Job must answer; then Job will be entitled to put questions to him. Job, however, on the opportunity being given him, shrinks back, and says, "Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken: but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further" (<a href="/job/40-4.htm">Job 40:4, 5</a>). The confident boldness which he felt when God seemed far off disappears in his presence, and is replaced by diffidence and distrust. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-4.htm">Job 38:4</a></div><div class="verse">Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?</span> Wast thou present? Didst thou witness it? If not, what canst thou know concerning it? And if thou knowest nothing of creation, what canst thou know of deeper things? The metaphor, by which the creation of the earth is compared to the foundation of an edifice, is a common one (<a href="/psalms/102-25.htm">Psalm 102:25</a>; <a href="/psalms/104-5.htm">Psalm 104:5</a>; <a href="/proverbs/8-29.htm">Proverbs 8:29</a>: <a href="/isaiah/48-13.htm">Isaiah 48:13</a>; <a href="/isaiah/51-13.htm">Isaiah 51:13, 16</a>; <a href="/zechariah/12-1.htm">Zechariah 12:1</a>; <a href="/hebrews/1-10.htm">Hebrews 1:10</a>, etc.), and is to be viewed as a concession to human weakness, creation itself, as it actually took place, being inconceivable. Declare, if thou hast understanding. That is, if thou hast any knowledge on the subject (comp. ver. 18). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-5.htm">Job 38:5</a></div><div class="verse">Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Who determined the measures thereof?</span> Everything in creation is orderly, measured, predetermined, governed by law and will The actual weight of the planets is fixed by Divine wisdom, with a view to the stability and enduringness of the solar system (comp. <a href="/isaiah/40-12.htm">Isaiah 40:12</a>). If thou knowest; literally, <span class="accented">for thou knowest</span> - an anticipation of the lofty irony which comes out so remarkably in ver. 21. <span class="cmt_word">Or who hath stretched the line upon it?</span> Human builders determine the dimensions of their constructions by means of a measuring-line (<a href="/ezekiel/40-3.htm">Ezekiel 40:3-49</a>, etc.). The writer carries out his metaphor of a building by supposing a measuring-rod to have been used at the creation of the earth also. Some find a trace of the idea in <a href="/genesis/1-9.htm">Genesis 1:9</a>, where they translate <span class="hebrew">קָווּ הַמַּיִם</span>, "Let the waters be <span class="accented">marked out with a line."</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-6.htm">Job 38:6</a></div><div class="verse">Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?</span> These details follow naturally upon the adoption of the particular metaphor of a house or building. They are not to be pressed. The object is to impress on Job his utter ignorance of God's ways in creation. <span class="cmt_word">Or who laid the corner-stone thereof?</span> Who gave the last finishing touch to the work (see <a href="/psalms/118-22.htm">Psalm 118:22</a>; <a href="/zechariah/4-7.htm">Zechariah 4:7</a>)? Canst thou tell? If not, why enter into controversy with the Creator? </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-7.htm">Job 38:7</a></div><div class="verse">When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">When the morning stars sang together</span>. The stars generally, or the actual stars visible on the morn of creation, are probably meant. They, as it were, sang a song of loud acclaim on witnessing the new marvel. Their priority to the earth is implied, since they witness its birth. Their song is, of course, that silent song of sympathy, whereof Shakespeare speaks when he says, "Each in its motion like an angel sings" ('Merchant of Venice,' act 5. sc. 1). <span class="cmt_word">And all the sons of God shouted for joy</span>. "The sons of God" here must necessarily be the angels (see <a href="/job/1-6.htm">Job 1:6</a>; <a href="/job/2-1.htm">Job 2:1</a>), since there were no men as yet in existence. They too joined in the chorus of sympathy and admiration, perhaps lifting up their voices (<a href="/revelation/5-11.htm">Revelation 5:11, 12</a>), perhaps their hearts only, praising the Creator, who had done such marvellous things. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-8.htm">Job 38:8</a></div><div class="verse">Or <i>who</i> shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, <i>as if</i> it had issued out of the womb?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Or who shut up the sea with doors?</span> From the earth a transition is made to the sea, as the second great wonder in creation (comp. <a href="/genesis/1-9.htm">Genesis 1:9, 10</a>; <a href="/exodus/20-11.htm">Exodus 20:11</a>; <a href="/psalms/104-24.htm">Psalm 104:24, 25</a>). God's might is especially shown in his power to control and confine the sea, which rages so terribly and seems so utterly uncontrollable. God has blocked it in "with doors" - <span class="accented">i.e.</span> with "bounds that it cannot pass, neither turn again to cover the earth" (<a href="/psalms/145-9.htm">Psalm 145:9</a>). Sometimes the barrier is one of lofty and solid rock, which seems well suited to confine and restrain; but sometimes it is no more than a thin streak of sliver sand or a bank of loose, shifting pebbles. Yet, in both cases alike, the restraint suffices. "The sand is placed for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it" (<a href="/jeremiah/5-22.htm">Jeremiah 5:22</a>); the beach of shifting pebbles remains as firm as the rock itself, and never recedes or advances more than a few feet. <span class="cmt_word">When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> at its birth, when it was first formed, by the gathering together of the waters into one place (see <a href="/genesis/1-9.htm">Genesis 1:9</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-9.htm">Job 38:9</a></div><div class="verse">When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">When I made the cloud the garment thereof</span>. The account of creation here given is certainly not drawn wholly from Genesis It is to be viewed as a second, independent, account of the occurrences, in fuller detail, but vaguer, by reason of the poetical phraseology. <span class="cmt_word">And thick darkness a swaddllng-band for it</span>. The infant sea, just come from the womb (ver. 8), is represented as clothed with a cloud, and swaddled in thick darkness, to mark its complete subjection to its Creator from the first. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-10.htm">Job 38:10</a></div><div class="verse">And brake up for it my decreed <i>place</i>, and set bars and doors,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And brake up for it my decreed place</span>; rather, as in the margin, and established my decree upon it; or, as in the Revised Version, <span class="accented">and prescribed for it my</span> decree. The decree itself is given in ver. 11. <span class="cmt_word">And set bars and doors</span> (see above, ver. 8, where the imagery of "doors" has been already introduced). As Professor Lee observes, "The term <span class="hebrew">דְּלָתַיִם</span> contains a metaphor taken from the large folding-doors of a city, which are usually set up for the purpose of stepping the progress of an invading enemy, and are hence supplied with bolts and bars" ('Book of Job,' p. 490). Representations of such folding-doors are common in the Assyrian sculptures; and in one instance the doors themselves, or, to speak more exactly, their outer bronze easing, has been recovered (see a paper in the 'Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology,' on the Bronze Gates discovered by Mr. Rassam at Balawat, vol. 7. pp. 85-115). These gates were twenty-two feet high and six feet broad each. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-11.htm">Job 38:11</a></div><div class="verse">And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And said, Hitherto shalt thou corns, but no further</span>. The law is not quite absolute. Wherever the sea washes a coast-line, there is a continual erosive action, whereby the land is, little by little, eaten away, and the line of the coast thrust back. But the action is so slow that millennia pass without any considerable effect being produced, and encroachments in some places are generally counterbalanced by retrenchment in others, so that the general contour of laud and water, with the proportion of the one to the other, remain probably very much the same at the present day as when the earth first became the habitation of man. <span class="cmt_word">And here shall thy proud waves be stayed</span>. The waves of the sea "rage horribly," and every now and then topple down a rock or undermine a cliff, and seem proud of their achievements; but how little do they effect, even in thousands of years! The little islet of Psyttaleia still blocks the eastern end of the straits of Salamis. The Pharos island lies off the westernmost mouth of the Nile. Even the low, fiat Aradus, on the Syrian coast, has not been swept away. Everywhere the waves are practically "stayed," and all the menaces of the sea against the land come to nought. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-12.htm">Job 38:12</a></div><div class="verse">Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; <i>and</i> caused the dayspring to know his place;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days?</span> rather, <span class="accented">by reason of ray length of</span> days - a similar irony to that observable in vers. 5, 21, etc. The third marvel of creation brought before us is the dawn, or daybreak - that standing miracle of combined utility and beauty. Has Job authority to issue his orders to the dawn, and tell it when to make its appearance? Has he caused the dayspring to know his place? Job cannot possibly pretend to any such power. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-13.htm">Job 38:13</a></div><div class="verse">That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> <span class="cmt_word">- That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be</span> <span class="cmt_word">shaken out of it?</span> The idea seems to he that the dawn, suddenly appearing, seizes hold of all the ends of the earth "at one rush" (Canon Cook), and lights up the whole terrestrial region. The wicked, lovers of darkness, are taken by surprise, and receive a shock from which they recover with difficulty (comp. <a href="/job/24-16.htm">Job 24:16, 17</a>). That they are "shaken from the earth" must be regarded as Oriental hyperbole. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-14.htm">Job 38:14</a></div><div class="verse">It is turned as clay <i>to</i> the seal; and they stand as a garment.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">It is turned as clay to the seal</span>; rather, <span class="accented">it changes as the clay of a seal.</span> The seals of the Babylonians, Assyrians, and others were commonly impressed upon clay, and not upon wax (Lsyard, 'Nineveh and Babylon,' pp. 153-156). As the seal changed the clay from a dull, shapeless lump to a figured surface, so the coming of the dawn changes the earth from an indistinct mass to one diversified with form and colour. As M. Renan explains, "L'aurore fair our la terre l'effet d'un sceau sur la torte sigillee, en dormant de laforme, et du relief, a la surface do l'univers, qui pendant la nuit est somme un chaos indistinct." And they stand as a garment; rather, <span class="accented">and things stand out as a garment</span> or as <span class="accented">on a garment -</span> a richly embroidered dress is intended, on which the pattern stands out in relief. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-15.htm">Job 38:15</a></div><div class="verse">And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And from the wicked their light is withholden</span>. Then, when the dawn bursts forth, "from the wicked, their light"-which is darkness (<a href="/job/24-13.htm">Job 24:13-17</a>) - "is withholden," and the consequence is that the high arm - the arm that is proud and lifted up - shall be broken. Detection and punishment fall upon the wicked doers who are surprised by the daylight. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-16.htm">Job 38:16</a></div><div class="verse">Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?</span> The emphasis is on the word "springs," which means sources, origin, or deepest depths (see the Septuagint, which has <span class="greek">πηγή</span>, and the Vulgate, which has <span class="accented">profunda</span>). Canst thou go to the bottom of anything, explore its secrets, explain its cause and origin? <span class="cmt_word">Or hast thou walked in the search</span> (rather, <span class="accented">the deep places</span>) <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>of the depth?</span> Art thou not as ignorant as other men of all these remote and secret things? Physical science is now attempting the material exploration of the ocean-depths, but "deep-sea dredgings" bring us no nearer to the origin, cause, or mode of creation of the great watery mass. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-17.htm">Job 38:17</a></div><div class="verse">Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?</span> By "the gates of death," Sheol, the abode of the dead, seems to be intended (comp. <a href="/job/10-21.htm">Job 10:21, 22</a>; <a href="/job/17-16.htm">Job 17:16</a>). Has Job explored this region, and penetrated its secrets? Or is it as unknown to him as to the rest of mankind? The second hemistich - <span class="cmt_word">Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?</span> - is a mere echo of the first, adding an new idea. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-18.htm">Job 38:18</a></div><div class="verse">Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?</span> literally, <span class="accented">the breadths</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the dimensions generally. The <span class="accented">exact</span> dimensions are probably not even yet known. Job can scarcely have had any conception of them. To him the earth was probably a vast plain, extended, he knew not how far, in all directions. <span class="cmt_word">Declare if thou knowest it all</span> (comp. vers. 4, 5, and 21). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-19.htm">Job 38:19</a></div><div class="verse">Where <i>is</i> the way <i>where</i> light dwelleth? and <i>as for</i> darkness, where <i>is</i> the place thereof,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Where is the way where light dwelleth?</span> or, <span class="accented">Which is the way to the dwelling-place of light</span> '? Where, <span class="accented">i.e.</span>' does light dwell? What is its original and true home? Light is a thing quite distinct from the sun and moon and planets (<a href="/genesis/1-3.htm">Genesis 1:3, 16</a>). Where and what is it? Dost thou know the way to its dwelling-place? If not, why, once more, dost thou pretend to search out the deep things of God? <span class="cmt_word">And as for darkness, where is the place thereof?</span> Darkness, too, light's antithesis, must not that have a home - a "place" of abode, as Job himself had postulated, when he spoke of "a land of darkness and the shadow of death, a land of darkness as darkness itself... Where the light is as darkness" (<a href="/job/10-21.htm">Job 10:21, 22</a>)? If so, can Job point out the locality? </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-20.htm">Job 38:20</a></div><div class="verse">That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths <i>to</i> the house thereof?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof</span>. Can Job "take" light and darkness, and lead them to their proper places, and make them observe their proper "bounds," as God can (<a href="/genesis/1-4.htm">Genesis 1:4</a>)? <span class="cmt_word">And that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof</span> (comp. ver. 19). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-21.htm">Job 38:21</a></div><div class="verse">Knowest thou <i>it</i>, because thou wast then born? or <i>because</i> the number of thy days <i>is</i> great?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 21.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born?</span> The irony that has underlain the whole address comes here to the surface, and shows itself palpably. Job, of course, is as old as the Almighty, or, at any rate, coeval with creation; otherwise he could not presume to take the tone which he has taken, and arraign the moral government of the Creator. Or because the number of thy days is great! Compare the sarcasm of Eliphaz (<a href="/job/15-7.htm">Job 15:7</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-22.htm">Job 38:22</a></div><div class="verse">Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 22.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?</span> The "treasures of the snow" are the storehouses, wherein the snow is, poetically, supposed to be laid up. Vast accumulations of snow actually exist in various portions of the earth's surface, but the fresh snow that falls is not taken from these treasuries, but newly generated by the crystallization of floating vapours in the atmosphere. Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail! This expression is to be explained similarly, as <span class="accented">poetical.</span> Hail is nowhere kept in store. It is generated by the passage of rain-drops through a layer of freezing air. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-23.htm">Job 38:23</a></div><div class="verse">Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 23.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Which I have reserved against the time of trouble</span>. Hail is reckoned throughout Scripture as one of the ministers of the Divine vengeance (see <a href="/exodus/9-18.htm">Exodus 9:18-29</a>; <a href="/exodus/10-5.htm">Exodus 10:5-15</a>; <a href="/joshua/10-11.htm">Joshua 10:11</a>; <a href="/psalms/18-12.htm">Psalm 18:12, 13</a>; <a href="/psalms/78-47.htm">Psalm 78:47, 48</a>; <a href="/psalms/105-32.htm">Psalm 105:32</a>; <a href="/isaiah/30-30.htm">Isaiah 30:30</a>; <a href="/isaiah/32-19.htm">Isaiah 32:19</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/13-11.htm">Ezekiel 13:11, 13</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/36-22.htm">Ezekiel 36:22</a>; <a href="/haggai/2-17.htm">Haggai 2:17</a>; <a href="/revelation/8-7.htm">Revelation 8:7</a>; <a href="/revelation/11-19.htm">Revelation 11:19</a>; <a href="/revelation/16-21.htm">Revelation 16:21</a>). Its destructive effect upon crops, even in temperate latitudes, is indicated by the insurances against damage from hail, which, even in our own country, so many farmers think it worth their while to pay. In tropical and semi-tropical regions the injury caused by hailstorms is far greater. <span class="cmt_word">Against the day of battle and war</span>. Compare especially <a href="/joshua/10-11.htm">Joshua 10:11</a>, which, however, we need not suppose to have been in the mind of the writer. In ancient times, when the bow held the place in war which is now occupied by the rifle or the musket, a heavy hailstorm, striking full in the face of the combatants on one side, while it only fell on the backs of their adversaries, must of tea have decided a battle. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-24.htm">Job 38:24</a></div><div class="verse">By what way is the light parted, <i>which</i> scattereth the east wind upon the earth?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 24.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">By what way is the light parted?</span> or, <span class="accented">distributed</span>, so as to be enjoyed by all the inhabitants of the earth (Stanley Loathes). Which scattereth, etc.; rather, <span class="accented">or by what way is the east wind scattered over the earth?</span> (see the Revised Version) Job is asked to explain God's <span class="accented">modus operandi</span> in nature, which, of course, he cannot do. Hence his answer in <a href="/job/40-5.htm">Job 40:5</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-25.htm">Job 38:25</a></div><div class="verse">Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 25.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Who hath divided a water-course for the overflowing of waters?</span> rather, as in the Revised Version, Who <span class="accented">hath cleft a channel for the water-flood? i.e.</span> Who has furrowed and seamed the ground (in Western Asia) with deep gullies, or "water-courses," for the rapid carrying off of the violent rains to which those regions are subject? The wadies of Syria and Arabia seem to be alluded to. They too are God's work, not Job's. <span class="cmt_word">Or a way for the lightning of thunder?</span> The "way" for the passage of the electric current is not marked out beforehand, like the way for the escape of the superfluous waters; but it is equally determined on and arranged previously by God, who has laid down the laws which it is bound to follow. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-26.htm">Job 38:26</a></div><div class="verse">To cause it to rain on the earth, <i>where</i> no man <i>is; on</i> the wilderness, wherein <i>there is</i> no man;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 26.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man</span>. God not only causes his rain to fall equally on the just and on the unjust (<a href="/matthew/5-45.htm">Matthew 5:45</a>), but equally, or almost equally, on inhabited lauds and uninhabited. His providence does not limit itself to supplying the wants of man, but has tender regard to the beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and insects which possess the lands whereon man has not yet set his foot. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-27.htm">Job 38:27</a></div><div class="verse">To satisfy the desolate and waste <i>ground</i>; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 27.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">To satisfy the desolate and waste ground</span>. Parched ground seems to cry aloud for water, and so to make a piteous appeal to Heaven. Perhaps rain is not wholly wasted, even on the bare sands of the Sahara, or the rugged rocks of Tierra del Fuego. It may have uses which are beyond our cognizance. <span class="cmt_word">And to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth</span>. Where the rain produces herbage, it is certainly of use, for wherever there is herbage there are always insects, whose enjoyment of life has every appearance of being intense. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-28.htm">Job 38:28</a></div><div class="verse">Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 28.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Hath the rain a father?</span> or who hath begotten the drops of dew? How do rain and dew come into existence? Can Job make them, or any other man? Can man even conceive of the process by which they were made? If not, must not their Maker, who is God, be wholly inscrutable? </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-29.htm">Job 38:29</a></div><div class="verse">Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 29.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Out of whose womb came the ice?</span> Modern scientists admit that the process by which a liquid is metamorphosed into a solid transcends their utmost power of thought. They know nothing more than the fact that at the temperature of 32° Fahr. water, and at other temperatures other liquids, are solidified (see an article by Professor Tyndall on the generation of a snowflake in the <span class="accented">Contemporary Review</span> of 1880). It is thus not only creation itself, but the transformations of created things, that transcend the scientific intellect and are inexplicable. <span class="cmt_word">And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?</span> This is the same question as that of the previous clause, expressed in different words </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-30.htm">Job 38:30</a></div><div class="verse">The waters are hid as <i>with</i> a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 30.</span> <span class="cmt_word">The waters are hid as with a stone</span>; rather, <span class="accented">the waters are hardened</span> <span class="accented">like unto stone.</span> When the frost comes, the waters are congealed and rendered as hard as stone. (So Dillmann and Canon Cook<span class="cmt_word">.) And the face of the deep is frozen</span>. By "the deep" (<span class="hebrew">תּהום</span>) is certainly not meant here either the open ocean, which, in the latitudes known to the dwellers in South Western Asia, never freezes, or the Mediterranean. Some of the lakes which abound in the regions inhabited by Job and his friends are probably meant. These may occasionally have been thinly coated with ice in the times when the Book of Job was written (see the comment on Job 6:16). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-31.htm">Job 38:31</a></div><div class="verse">Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 31.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?</span> (On the almost certain identification of the Hebrew <span class="accented">Kirnah</span> with the Pleiades, see the comment on Job 9:9.) Whether the "sweet influences" of the constellation are here spoken of is very doubtful. Schultens and Professor Lee support the rendering; but most critics prefer to translate the word employed (<span class="hebrew">מעדנים</span>) by "chains" or "fastenings" (Rashi, Kimchi, Rosenmuller, Dillmann, Canon Cook). If we adopt this view, we must suppose the invisible links which unite the stars into a constellation to be intended. Job is asked whether he can draw the links nearer together, and bind the stars closer to one another. <span class="cmt_word">Or loose the bands of Orion?</span> The identity of <span class="accented">Kesil</span> with Orion is generally allowed. Job is asked if he can loosen the tie which unites the several members of this constellation together. Of course, he can pretend to no such powers. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-32.htm">Job 38:32</a></div><div class="verse">Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 32.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?</span> The context implies that "Mazzaroth' is a constellation on a par with the Pleiades, Orion, and the Bear (Kimah, <span class="accented">Kesil</span> and '<span class="accented">Aish</span>). This makes it impossible to accept the meaning, so generally assigned, of "the twelve signs of the Zodiac." Again, the plural form is fatal to the conjecture that "Mazzaroth" designates a single star or planet, as Jupiter, Venus, or Sirius (Cook). The word is derived probably from the root zahar, "to shine," "to be bright," and should designate some especially brilliant cluster of stars Whether it is to be regarded as a variant of <span class="accented">Mazzaloth</span> (<a href="/2_kings/23-5.htm">2 Kings 23:5</a>) is uncertain. <span class="cmt_word">Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?</span> (On the identity of '<span class="accented">Ash</span> or '<span class="accented">Aish</span> with the Great Bear, see the comment on Job 9:9.) The "sons" of '<span class="accented">Aish are</span> conjectured to be the three large stars in the tail of Ursa Major (Stanley Leathes); but the grounds on which the conjecture rests are very slight. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-33.htm">Job 38:33</a></div><div class="verse">Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 33.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven?</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the physical laws by which the course of nature is governed (comp. <a href="/psalms/119-90.htm">Psalm 119:90, 91</a>; <a href="/psalms/148-6.htm">Psalm 148:6</a>). The general prevalence of law in the material world is quite as strongly asserted by the sacred writers as by modern science. The difference is that modern science regards the laws as physical necessities, self-subsisting, while Scripture looks upon them as the ordinances of the Divine will. This latter view involves, of course, the further result that the Divine will can at any time suspend or reverse any of its enactments. <span class="cmt_word">Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?</span> If Job does not even know the laws whereby the world is governed, much less can he establish such laws himself, and make them work. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-34.htm">Job 38:34</a></div><div class="verse">Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 34.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of water may sever thee?</span> Will the clouds take their orders from thee, listen to thee, obey thy voice? None but the "medicine-men" of savage tribes profess to have any such power. Elijah, indeed, "prayed, and the heaven gave rain" (<a href="/james/5-18.htm">James 5:18</a>); but this was a very different thing from "commanding the clouds of heaven." His prayer was addressed to God, and God gave the rain for which he made his petition. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-35.htm">Job 38:35</a></div><div class="verse">Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we <i>are</i>?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 35.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Hers we are?</span> If Job cannot command the clouds, much less can he send (or rather, <span class="accented">send forth</span>) lightnings - these marvellous and terrible evidences of almighty power. Even now, with all our command of electricity, our savants would, from the best electrical ms-chine, find it difficult to produce the effects which often result from a single flash of lightning. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-36.htm">Job 38:36</a></div><div class="verse">Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 36.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?</span> Some refer this to human wisdom, and understand the Almighty as asking - Who has put man's wisdom into his inward parts? literally, <span class="accented">into his kidneys</span>, or as our idiom would express it, "into his heart." But there is great difficulty in supposing a sudden transition from clouds and lightning in vers. 34, 35 to the human understanding in ver. 36, <span class="accented">with a return to clouds and rain</span> in ver. 37. Hence many of the best critics understand ver. 36 of the purpose and intelligence that may be regarded as existing in the clouds and rain and lightning themselves, which are God's ministers, and run to and fro at his command, and execute his pleasure. (So Schultens, Rosenmuller, Professor Lee, and Professer Stanley Leathes.) To obtain this result, we must translate the word <span class="hebrew">טוּחות</span> By "tempest" or "thunder-belts," and the word <span class="hebrew">שׂכוי</span>, in the next clause, by "storm n or something similar (see the Revised Version, where "dark clouds" is suggested as an alternative for "inward parts'" and "meteor" as an alternative for "heart"). The whole passage will then run thus: Who <span class="accented">hath put wisdom in the thunderbolts? or who hath given understanding to the tempest?</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-37.htm">Job 38:37</a></div><div class="verse">Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 37.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Who can number the clouds in wisdom?</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> Who is wise enough to number the clouds, and say how many they are? Or who can stay the bottles of heaven! rather, <span class="accented">Who can pour out</span>? (see the Revised Version). The "bottles," or "water-skins," of heaven are the dense clouds heavy with rain, which alternately hold the moisture like a reservoir, and pour it out upon the earth. God alone can determine when the rain shall fall. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-38.htm">Job 38:38</a></div><div class="verse">When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 38.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">When the dust groweth into hardness</span>. '<span class="accented">Aphar</span> (<span class="hebrew">עָפַר</span>) here, as often, means "earth," or "soil," rather than "dust." When by the heat of the sun's rays the ground grows into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together, baked into a compact mass, then is the time when rain is most needed, and when the Almighty in his mercy commonly sends it. The consideration of inanimate nature here ends, with the result that its mysteries altogether transcend the human intellect, and render speculation on the still deeper mysteries of the moral world wholly vain and futile. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-39.htm">Job 38:39</a></div><div class="verse">Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 39.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Wilt thou hunt the prey for the</span> <span class="cmt_word">lion?</span> A new departure. Ch. 39 should commence from this point. What does Job know of the habits and instincts of animals? Can he arrange so that the lion (rather, <span class="accented">lioness</span>) shall obtain its proper prey, and thus fill the appetite - or, <span class="accented">satisfy the appetite</span> (Revised Version) - of the young lions, which depend on their dam? Certainly not. "The lions, roaring after their prey, do seek their <span class="accented">meat from God"</span> (<a href="/psalms/104-21.htm">Psalm 104:21</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-40.htm">Job 38:40</a></div><div class="verse">When they couch in <i>their</i> dens, <i>and</i> abide in the covert to lie in wait?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 40.</span> <span class="cmt_word">- When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/10-9.htm">Psalm 10:9, 10</a>; <a href="/psalms/17-12.htm">Psalm 17:12</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/38-41.htm">Job 38:41</a></div><div class="verse">Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 41.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Who provideth for the raven his food?</span> (comp. <a href="/luke/12-24.htm">Luke 12:24</a>, "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and <span class="accented">God feedeth them"</span>). God's mercy is "over all his works," not only over those whereof man sees the utility; but also over beasts of prey, and birds thought to be of ill omen. Especially he cares for the young of each kind, which most need protection. When his young ones cry unto God. So <a href="/psalms/147-9.htm">Psalm 147:9</a>, "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the <span class="accented">young ravens which</span> cry." The young ravens are driven to cry out, when they, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the parent birds, wander for lack of meat, and have a difficulty in finding it. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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