Job 38:16

16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

Job 38:16 in Other Translations

16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

16 "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?

16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths?

16 "Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things, explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean?

16 Have you traveled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans?

Job 38:16 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:16

Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
&c.] The subterraneous passages through which the waters flow into the sea and supply it; or the springs and fountains that rise up at the bottom of it ^F9; and some tell us of springs of sweet water that rise there, even though the water at the bottom of the sea is saltier than on the surface ^F11: some render it "the drops of the sea" ^F12; hast thou considered them and counted them? art thou able to do it? no: others the "perplexities" of it ^F13, so the Targum, the word being used in this sense, ( Exodus 14:3 ) ; the thickets of it; some speak of woods and forests in it, (See Gill on Exodus 10:19); others "rocks" and shelves ^F14, and others the "borders" of it ^F15; and the sense then is, hast thou entered into and travelled through the main ocean, observed the forests in it, the shelving rocks and sandy mountains in it, and gone to the utmost borders of it?

or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
to find out the deepest place of it, where no sounding line can reach ^F16; or walked in quest of the curiosities of it, animals, plants and minerals, unknown to men; or of the riches that lie at the bottom of it, for which now the diving bell is used, but not invented and known in the times of Job; and if Job had not done and could not do all this, how should he be able to enter into the secret springs of Providence, or trace the ways of God, whose way is in the sea, and whose paths are in the great waters, and his footsteps not known? ( Psalms 77:19 ) ( Romans 11:33 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 According to Dr. Plot, the principal fountains have their origin, and are supplied with water through subterraneous passages from the sea. De Origine Fontium apud Act. Erudit. Lips. A. M. 1685. p. 538. See Gen vii. 11.
F11 Vid. Scheucbzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 4. p. 803.
F12 (My ykbn) "guttas maris", Tigurine version, Grotius.
F13 "Perplexitates maris", Munster.
F14 "Scopulos maris", Michaelis; "salebrosa maris", Schultens.
F15 So Jarchi.
F16 For though the greatest depth of the sea is said by Fabianus (apud Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 2, c. 102.) to be fifteen furlongs, or near two miles, this must be understood of that part of it which is fathomable and nearer land. But such as those, called Bathea Ponti, the depths of the Pontus, and are almost three hundred furlongs from the continent, they are said (Plin. ib.) to be of an immense depth, and the bottom not to be found. And if the Sardinian sea, the deepest in the Mediterranean (Aristot. Meteorolog. l. 2, c. 1.) is a thousand orgies or fathoms deep, (Posidonius apud Strabo. Geograph. l. 1, p. 37.) that is, one mile and a fifth, what must the depth of the vast ocean be?

Job 38:16 In-Context

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

15 The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.

16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 1:7; S Job 9:8; Psalms 77:19