Job 37:17

17 No, you can only suffer in the heat when the south wind oppresses the land.

Job 37:17 Meaning and Commentary

Job 37:17

How thy garments [are] warm, when he quieteth the earth by
the south [wind]?
] One should think there is no great difficulty in accounting for this, that a man's clothes should be warm, and he so hot as not to be able to bear them, but obliged to put them off in the summer season, when only the south wind blows, which brings heat, a serene sky, and fine weather, ( Luke 12:55 ) ; and yet there is something in the concourse of divine Providence attending these natural causes, and his blessing with them, without which the garment of a man will not be warm, or at least not warming to him, ( Haggai 1:6 ) ; or

``how thy garments are warm when the land is still from the south,''

as Mr. Broughton renders the words; that is, how it is when the earth is still from the whirlwinds of the south; or when that wind does not blow which brings heat, but northerly winds in the winter time; that then a man's garments should be warm, and keep him warm.

Job 37:17 In-Context

15 Do you know how God gives the command and makes lightning flash from the clouds?
16 Do you know how clouds float in the sky, the work of God's amazing skill?
17 No, you can only suffer in the heat when the south wind oppresses the land.
18 Can you help God stretch out the sky and make it as hard as polished metal?
19 Teach us what to say to God; our minds are blank; we have nothing to say.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.