Job 38:18

18 Whether thou hast beheld the breadth of the earth? Show thou to me, if thou knowest all (these) things,

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 Whether thou hast entered into the depth of the sea, and hast walked in the last parts of the depth, that is, the ocean, or the great west sea? (Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea? or hast thou walked in the deep parts of the ocean?)
17 Whether the gates of death be opened to thee, and thou hast seen the dark doors? (Be the gates of death opened to thee, and hast thou seen the dark doors?)
18 Whether thou hast beheld the breadth of the earth? Show thou to me, if thou knowest all (these) things,
19 in what way the light dwelleth, and which is the place of darkness; (yea, the way to where the light dwelleth, and where the place of darkness is;)
20 that thou lead out each thing to his terms, and that thou understand the ways of his house. (so that thou can then lead out each to its boundary, and that thou know the way to its house.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.