Job 38

22. treasures--storehouses, from which God draws forth snow and hail. Snow is vapor congealed in the air before it is collected in drops large enough to form hail. Its shape is that of a crystal in endless variety of beautiful figures. Hail is formed by rain falling through dry cold air.

23. against the time of trouble--the time when I design to chastise men ( Exodus 9:18 , Joshua 10:11 , Revelation 16:21 , Isaiah 28:17 , Psalms 18:12 Psalms 18:13 , Haggai 2:17 ).

24. is . . . parted--parts, so as to diffuse itself over the whole earth, though seeming to come from one point. Light travels from the sun to the earth, ninety millions of miles, in eight minutes.
which scattereth--rather, "And by what way the east wind (personified) spreads (scattereth) itself." The light and east wind are associated together, as both come from one quarter, and often arise together ( Jonah 4:8 ).

25. waters--Rain falls, not in a mass on one spot, but in countless separate canals in the air marked out for them.
way for the lightning--( Job 28:26 ).

26. Since rain fails also on places uninhabited by man, it cannot be that man guides its course. Such rain, though man cannot explain the reason for it, is not lost. God has some wise design in it.

27. As though the desolate ground thirsted for God's showers. Personification. The beauty imparted to the uninhabited desert pleases God, for whom primarily all things exist, and He has ulterior designs in it.

28. Can any visible origin of rain and dew be assigned by man? Dew is moisture, which was suspended in the air, but becomes condensed on reaching the in the night--lower temperature of objects on the earth.

29. Job 37:10 .

30. The unfrozen waters are hid under the frozen, as with a covering of stone.
frozen--literally, "is taken"; the particles take hold of one another so as to cohere.

31. sweet influences--the joy diffused by spring, the time when the Pleiades appear. The Eastern poets, Hafiz, Sadi, &c., describe them as "brilliant rosettes." GESENIUS translates: "bands" or "knot," which answers better the parallelism. But English Version agrees better with the Hebrew. The seven stars are closely "bound" together "Canst thou bind or loose the tie?" "Canst thou loose the bonds by which the constellation Orion is held fast?"

32. Canst thou bring forth from their places or houses (Mazzaloth, 2 Kings 23:5 , Margin; to which Mazzaroth here is equivalent) into the sky the signs of the Zodiac at their respective seasons--the twelve lodgings in which the sun successively stays, or appears, in the sky?
Arcturus--Ursa Major.
his sons?--the three stars in his tail. Canst thou make them appear in the sky? ( Job 9:9 ). The great and less Bear are called by the Arabs "Daughters of the Bier," the quadrangle being the bier, the three others the mourners.

33. ordinances--which regulate the alternations of seasons, &c. ( Genesis 8:22 ).
dominion--controlling influence of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, &c., on the earth (on the tides, weather) ( Genesis 1:16 , Psalms 136:7-9 ).

34. Jeremiah 14:22 ; above Job 22:11 , metaphorically.

35. Here we are--at thy disposal ( Isaiah 6:8 ).

36. inward parts . . . heart--But "dark clouds" ("shining phenomena") [UMBREIT]; "meteor" [MAURER], referring to the consultation of these as signs of weather by the husbandman ( Ecclesiastes 11:4 ). But Hebrew supports English Version. The connection is, "Who hath given thee the intelligence to comprehend in any degree the phenomena just specified?"
heart--not the usual Hebrew word, but one from a root "to view"; perception.

37. Who appoints by his wisdom the due measure of the clouds?
stay--rather, "empty"; literally, "lay down" or "incline" so as to pour out.
bottles of heaven--rain-filled clouds.

38. groweth, &c.--rather, pour itself into a mass by the rain, like molten metal; then translate Job 38:38 , "Who is it that empties," &c., "when," ? The English Version, however, is tenable: "Is caked into a mass" by heat, like molten metal, before the rain falls; "Who is it that can empty the rain vessels, and bring down rain at such a time?" ( Job 38:38 ).

39. At Job 38:39-39:30', the instincts of animals. Is it thou that givest it the instinct to hunt its prey? ( Psalms 104:21 ).
appetite--literally, "life," which depends on the appetite" ( Job 33:20 ).

40. lie in wait?--for their prey ( Psalms 10:9 ).

41. Luke 12:24 . Transition from the noble lioness to the croaking raven. Though man dislikes it, as of ill omen, God cares for it, as for all His creatures.