Job 38:38

38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?

Job 38:38 in Other Translations

KJV
38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
ESV
38 when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?
NLT
38 when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?
MSG
38 When the earth is cracked and dry, the ground baked hard as a brick?
CSB
38 when the dust hardens like cast metal and the clods [of dirt] stick together?

Job 38:38 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:38

When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast
together?
] When the dust is attenuated, and ground, as it were, into powder; and the clods cleave together, as if glued, as in a drought for want of rain: or the bottles of heaven being unstopped and poured out; or

``sprinkling the dust with this sprinkling,''

as Mr. Broughton. Or rather, pouring on the dust with pouring; that is, pouring down rain, by unstopping the bottles of heaven. The dust, as meal, by water poured into it, cements, unites, and is compacted, and becomes earth, that may be cultivated; is clodded and cleaves together, and may be ploughed and sown.

Job 38:38 In-Context

36 Who gives the ibis wisdomor gives the rooster understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?

Cross References 2

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