Job 38:26-36

26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life,

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?

28 "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?

30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

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

32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?

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

36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?

Job 38:26-36 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Meaning of Heb uncertain
• [b]. Meaning of Heb uncertain