Job 38:12

12 "Have you ever in your life called up the dawn and made the morning know its place,

Job 38:12 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:12

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days;
&c.] Job had lived to see many a morning, but it never was in his power to command one; he had been in such circumstances as to wish for morning light before it was, but was obliged to wait for it, could not hasten it, or cause it to spring before its time; see ( Job 7:3 Job 7:4 ) ; one of the Targums is,

``wast thou in the days of the first creation, and commandedst the morning to be?''

he was not, God was; he was before the first morning, and commanded it into being, ( Genesis 1:3-5 ) ( Isaiah 43:13 ) ;

[and] caused the dayspring to know his place;
the first spring of light or dawn of day; which though it has a different place every day in the year, as the sun ascends or descends in the signs of the Zodiac, yet it knows and observes its exact place, being taught of God.

Job 38:12 In-Context

10 when I made the breakers its boundary set its gates and bars,
11 and said, 'You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop'?
12 "Have you ever in your life called up the dawn and made the morning know its place,
13 so that it could take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
14 Then the earth is changed like clay under a seal, until its colors are fixed like those of a garment.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.