Job 38:12

12 numquid post ortum tuum praecepisti diluculo et ostendisti aurorae locum suum

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 circumdedi illud terminis meis et posui vectem et ostia
11 et dixi usque huc venies et non procedes amplius et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos
12 numquid post ortum tuum praecepisti diluculo et ostendisti aurorae locum suum
13 et tenuisti concutiens extrema terrae et excussisti impios ex ea
14 restituetur ut lutum signaculum et stabit sicut vestimentum
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.