Job 38:14

14 Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?

Job 38:14 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:14

It is turned as clay [to] the seal
As the clay receives a different form by the impress of the seal upon it, so the earth appears in a different manner by the spring of morning light upon it; in the darkness of the night nothing of its form and beauty is to be seen; it is a mere "tohu" and "bohu", like the chaos, ( Genesis 1:2 ) ; its rising hills, and spreading dales, and beautiful landscapes, cannot be observed with pleasure; but when the light breaks forth in the morning, it is seen in all its beauty and glory: of the change the light of the Gospel makes in men, see ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ) ;

and they stand as a garment;
or things stand upon it as a garment, as Mr. Broughton renders the words; herbs, plants, and trees, unseen in the night, stand up like a vesture to the earth in the morning light; and as they are clothed themselves, they are a garment to that, which now puts on another and beautiful habit; the pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys covered with corn, and the whole earth with light itself, as with a garment: and as beautifully do men made light in the Lord appear; see ( Isaiah 41:10 ) ( Revelation 3:4 Revelation 3:5 ) ( 12:1 ) .

Job 38:14 In-Context

12 Or did I order the morning light in thy time; and the morning star see his appointed place;

13 to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it?

14 Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?

15 And hast thou removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?

16 Or hast thou gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?