Job 38:29-39

29 Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,

30 which turn the waters to stone and freeze the face of the sea?

31 Can you tie the Pleiades together ¹ or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?

32 Can you guide the stars season by season and direct the Big and the Little Dipper?

33 Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth?

34 Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain?

35 And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, "At your service"?

36 Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood, or who tells the rooster that rain will fall?

37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds and tilt them over to pour out the rain,

38 rain that hardens the dust into lumps?

39 Do you find food for lions to eat, and satisfy hungry young lions

Job 38:29-39 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.

Cross References

• 1. 38.31Job 9.9;Amos 5.8.

Footnotes

• [a]. ibis: [A bird in ancient Egypt that was believed to announce the flooding of the Nile River.]
• [b]. [Verse 36 in Hebrew is unclear.]