Job 38:24-34

24 "Where is the way that ¹the 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 ²rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it,

27 To ³satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

28 "Has ⁴the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 "From whose womb has come the ⁵ice? 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 ⁶Pleiades, 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 ⁷ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an ⁸abundance of water will cover you?

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Job 38:24-34 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 8

1. Job 26:10
2. Job 36:27
3. Psalms 104:13, 14; Psalms 107:35
4. Job 36:27, 28; Psalms 147:8; Jeremiah 14:22
5. Job 37:10; Psalms 147:17
6. Job 9:9; Amos 5:8
7. Psalms 148:6; Jeremiah 31:35, 36
8. Job 22:11; Job 36:27, 28; Job 38:37

Footnotes 5

[a]. Lit "man"
[b]. Or "growth"
[c]. Lit "hides itself"
[d]. Heb "Mazzaroth"
[e]. Lit "sons"