Job 37:18

18 Can you help God stretch out the sky and make it as hard as polished metal?

Job 37:18 Meaning and Commentary

Job 37:18

Hast thou with him spread out the sky?
&c.] Wast thou concerned with him at the first spreading out of the sky? wast thou an assistant to him in it? did he not spread it as a curtain or canopy about himself, without the help of another? verily he did; see ( Job 9:8 ) ( Isaiah 44:24 ) ;

[which] is strong:
for though it seems a fluid and thin, is very firm and strong, as appears by what it bears, and are contained in it; and therefore is called "the firmament of his power", ( Psalms 150:1 ) ;

[and] as a molten looking glass;
clear and transparent, like the looking glasses of the women, made of molten brass, ( Exodus 38:8 ) ; and firm and permanent F21; and a glass this is in which the glory of God, and his divine perfections, is to be seen; and is one of the wondrous works of God, made for the display of his own glory, and the benefit of men, ( Psalms 19:1 ) . Or this may respect the spreading out a clear serene sky, and smoothing it after it has been covered and ruffled with storms and tempests; which is such a wonderful work of God, that man has no hand in.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 (calkeov ouranov) . Pindar. Nem. Ode 6.

Job 37:18 In-Context

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.
20 I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.