Job 38:18

18 And hast thou been instructed in the breadth of the under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?

Job 38:18 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:18

Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?
&c.] Which may be put for all the dimensions of it, length, breadth, diameter, and circumference, but especially it regards the surface of it, and the measurement of that; hast thou gone over the whole face of the earth and measured it, all its parts, its hills and dales, rocks and mountains, and took a survey of all the cities, towns and villages, woods, forests, fountains, rivers, &c? no; if a man lived as long as Methuselah, and spent all his days in this way, he could never be able to do it; and some parts are inaccessible, and not to be measured by the most skilful geometer;

declare, if thou knowest it all;
the whole earth and every part of it, and all that is in it. Whether the other hemisphere and the antipodes were known in Job's time is a question; however not America, or the new world, which is a late discovery; and even now, in our most exact maps of the world, some parts are marked with "terra incognita", the unknown land.

Job 38:18 In-Context

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

17 And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee?

18 And hast thou been instructed in the breadth of the under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?

19 And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness?

20 If thou couldest bring me to their boundaries, and if also thou knowest their paths;