Job 38:20

20 So you can take them by the hand and lead them home when they get lost?

Job 38:20 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:20

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof
Either darkness, or rather the light; take it as it were by the hand, and guide and direct its course to its utmost bound. This only the Lord can do and does: he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which goes forth at his command as a strong man to run a race; whose going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: in which his course is so steered and directed by the Lord, that he never misses his way or errs from it; but keeps his path exactly, as well as knows its rising and setting, its utmost bounds;

and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] the house thereof?
from whence it sets out, and whither it returns; see ( Psalms 19:4-6 ) . And so the light and darkness of prosperity and adversity, as well as natural light and darkness, are of God, at his disposal, and bounded by him, and therefore his will should be submitted to; which is the doctrine the Lord would teach Job by all this.

Job 38:20 In-Context

18 And do you have any idea how large this earth is? Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer.
19 "Do you know where Light comes from and where Darkness lives
20 So you can take them by the hand and lead them home when they get lost?
21 Why, of course you know that. You've known them all your life, grown up in the same neighborhood with them!
22 "Have you ever traveled to where snow is made, seen the vault where hail is stockpiled,
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.