Job 38:5-15

5 Who set its ¹measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?

6 "On what ²were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone *,

7 When the morning stars sang together And all the ³sons of God shouted for joy?

8 "Or who ⁴enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;

9 When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 And I ⁵placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,

11 And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop '?

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 ⁶the ends of the earth, And ⁷the wicked be shaken out of it?

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

15 "⁸From the wicked their light is withheld, And the ⁹uplifted arm is broken.

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Job 38:5-15 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 9

1. Proverbs 8:29; Isaiah 40:12
2. Job 26:7
3. Job 1:6
4. Genesis 1:9; Psalms 104:6-9; Proverbs 8:29; Jeremiah 5:22
5. Genesis 1:9; Psalms 33:7; Psalms 104:9; Proverbs 8:29; Jeremiah 5:22
6. Job 28:24; Job 37:3
7. Job 34:25, 26; Job 36:6
8. Job 5:14
9. Numbers 15:30; Psalms 10:15; Psalms 37:17

Footnotes 2

[a]. Lit "broke My decree on it"
[b]. Lit "from your days"