Job 38:8-18

8 "Who shut the doors to keep the sea in when it broke through and was born,

9 when I made the clouds like a coat for the sea and wrapped it in dark clouds,

10 when I put limits on the sea and put its doors and bars in place,

11 when I said to the sea, 'You may come this far, but no farther; this is where your proud waves must stop'?

12 "Have you ever ordered the morning to begin, or shown the dawn where its place was

13 in order to take hold of the earth by its edges and shake evil people out of it?

14 At dawn the earth changes like clay being pressed by a seal; the hills and valleys stand out like folds in a coat.

15 Light is not given to evil people; their arm is raised to do harm, but it is broken.

16 "Have you ever gone to where the sea begins or walked in the valleys under the sea?

17 Have the gates of death been opened to you? Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?

18 Do you understand how wide the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things.

Job 38:8-18 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.