Job 38:12

12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,

Job 38:12 in Other Translations

12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

12 "And have you ever ordered Morning, 'Get up!' told Dawn, 'Get to work!'

12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,

Job 38:12 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:12

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days;
&c.] Job had lived to see many a morning, but it never was in his power to command one; he had been in such circumstances as to wish for morning light before it was, but was obliged to wait for it, could not hasten it, or cause it to spring before its time; see ( Job 7:3 Job 7:4 ) ; one of the Targums is,

``wast thou in the days of the first creation, and commandedst the morning to be?''

he was not, God was; he was before the first morning, and commanded it into being, ( Genesis 1:3-5 ) ( Isaiah 43:13 ) ;

[and] caused the dayspring to know his place;
the first spring of light or dawn of day; which though it has a different place every day in the year, as the sun ascends or descends in the signs of the Zodiac, yet it knows and observes its exact place, being taught of God.

Job 38:12 In-Context

10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,

11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?

12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,

13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?

14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 57:8
• 2. Psalms 74:16; Amos 5:8