Job 38:12-41

God's Mighty Power

12 "Have you ever * in your life * commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,

13 That it might take hold of ¹the ends of the earth, And ²the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 "It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.

15 "³From the wicked their light is withheld, And the ⁴uplifted arm is broken.

16 "Have you entered into ⁵the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 "Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of ⁶deep darkness?

18 "Have you understood the expanse of ⁷the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

20 That you may take it to ⁸its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home?

21 "You know, for ⁹you were born then, And the number of your days is great!

22 "Have you entered the storehouses ¹⁰of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the ¹¹hail,

23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?

24 "Where is the way that ¹²the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

25 "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt *,

26 To bring ¹³rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it,

27 To ¹⁴satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

28 "Has ¹⁵the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 "From whose womb has come the ¹⁶ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

30 "Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

31 "Can you bind the chains of the ¹⁷Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?

32 "Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

33 "Do you know the ¹⁸ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an ¹⁹abundance of water will cover you?

35 "Can you ²⁰send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?

36 "Who has ²¹put wisdom in the innermost being Or given ²²understanding to the mind?

37 "Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or ²³tip the water jars of the heavens,

38 When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?

39 "Can you hunt the ²⁴prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 When they ²⁵crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?

41 "Who prepares for ²⁶the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?

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Job 38:12-41 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 38

In this chapter the Lord takes up the controversy with Job; calls upon him to prepare to engage with him in it, and demands an answer to posing questions he puts to him, concerning the earth and the fabric of it, Job 38:1-7; concerning the sea, compared to an infant in embryo, at its birth, in its swaddling bands and cradle, Job 38:8-11; concerning the morning light, its spread and influence, Job 38:12-15; concerning the springs of the sea, the dark parts of the earth, the place both of light and darkness, Job 38:16-21; concerning the various meteors, snow, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, and the influences of the stars, Job 38:22-38; and concerning provision for lions and ravens, Job 38:40,41.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 26

1. Job 28:24; Job 37:3
2. Job 34:25, 26; Job 36:6
3. Job 5:14
4. Numbers 15:30; Psalms 10:15; Psalms 37:17
5. Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2; Prov Genesis 8:24, 28
6. Job 10:21; Job 26:6; Job 34:22
7. Job 28:24
8. Job 26:10
9. Job 15:7
10. Job 37:6
11. Exodus 9:18; Joshua 10:11; Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 13:11, 13; Revelation 16:21
12. Job 26:10
13. Job 36:27
14. Psalms 104:13, 14; Psalms 107:35
15. Job 36:27, 28; Psalms 147:8; Jeremiah 14:22
16. Job 37:10; Psalms 147:17
17. Job 9:9; Amos 5:8
18. Psalms 148:6; Jeremiah 31:35, 36
19. Job 22:11; Job 36:27, 28; Job 38:37
20. Job 36:32; Job 37:3
21. Job 9:4; Psalms 51:6; Ecclesiastes 2:26
22. Job 32:8
23. Job 38:34
24. Psalms 104:21
25. Job 37:8
26. Psalms 147:9; Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:24

Footnotes 10

[a]. Lit "from your days"
[b]. Or "in search of"
[c]. Or "width"
[d]. Lit "house"
[e]. Lit "man"
[f]. Or "growth"
[g]. Lit "hides itself"
[h]. Heb "Mazzaroth"
[i]. Lit "sons"
[j]. Or "rooster"