Job 38:18

18 Zijt gij met uw verstand gekomen tot aan de breedte der aarde? Geef het te kennen, indien gij dit alles weet.

Job 38:18 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:18

Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?
&c.] Which may be put for all the dimensions of it, length, breadth, diameter, and circumference, but especially it regards the surface of it, and the measurement of that; hast thou gone over the whole face of the earth and measured it, all its parts, its hills and dales, rocks and mountains, and took a survey of all the cities, towns and villages, woods, forests, fountains, rivers, &c? no; if a man lived as long as Methuselah, and spent all his days in this way, he could never be able to do it; and some parts are inaccessible, and not to be measured by the most skilful geometer;

declare, if thou knowest it all;
the whole earth and every part of it, and all that is in it. Whether the other hemisphere and the antipodes were known in Job's time is a question; however not America, or the new world, which is a late discovery; and even now, in our most exact maps of the world, some parts are marked with "terra incognita", the unknown land.

Job 38:18 In-Context

16 Zijt gij gekomen tot aan de oorsprongen der zee, en hebt gij in het onderste des afgronds gewandeld?
17 Zijn u de poorten des doods ontdekt, en hebt gij gezien de poorten van de schaduw des doods?
18 Zijt gij met uw verstand gekomen tot aan de breedte der aarde? Geef het te kennen, indien gij dit alles weet.
19 Waar is de weg, daar het licht woont? En de duisternis, waar is haar plaats?
20 Dat gij dat brengen zoudt tot zijn pale, en dat gij merken zoudt de paden zijns huizes?
The Dutch Staten Vertaling translation is in the public domain.