Job 38 Footnotes

38:4-6 Some critics use this passage to assert that the Bible teaches that the earth stands on “pillars” (see 9:6), set on a foundation with a cornerstone, and built according to measured specifications. But throughout this chapter the imagery of creation is cast in bold metaphors designed for human understanding. The Lord’s speeches should not be viewed as scientific treatises (see note on 26:7).

38:19-20 This is another obvious metaphor. Light and darkness are likened to those who put in their work period and go home.

38:22-23 The storing of “snow” and “hail” in storehouses is metaphorical. Much as an army keeps its arsenal of weapons in an armory, so God’s “weapons” are available to him for use at the proper time of judgment, for “warfare and battle.”

38:31-32 No reflection of Greek mythology in which Orion is chained in the sky should be read here. Uncertainty as to the identity of “the Bear and her cubs” should not obscure the fact that God controls all the constellations.

38:37 A colorful word-picture, comparing the raining clouds to “water jars of heaven,” underscores the poetic quality of the book of Job.