Job 38:1-9

The Lord Speaks

1 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind.^[a] He said:

2 Who is this who obscures [My] counsel with ignorant words?^[b]

3 Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me.^[c]

4 Where were you when I established^[d] the earth? Tell [Me], if you have^[e] understanding.

5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6 What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone

7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God^[f] shouted for joy?

8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb,

9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,^[g][h]

Job 38:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 38

In this chapter the Lord takes up the controversy with Job; calls upon him to prepare to engage with him in it, and demands an answer to posing questions he puts to him, concerning the earth and the fabric of it, Job 38:1-7; concerning the sea, compared to an infant in embryo, at its birth, in its swaddling bands and cradle, Job 38:8-11; concerning the morning light, its spread and influence, Job 38:12-15; concerning the springs of the sea, the dark parts of the earth, the place both of light and darkness, Job 38:16-21; concerning the various meteors, snow, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, and the influences of the stars, Job 38:22-38; and concerning provision for lions and ravens, Job 38:40,41.

Footnotes

• [a] Jb 40:6; Ps 107:25,29
• [b] Jb 42:3
• [c] Jb 40:7; Jr 1:17; 1 Pt 1:13
• [d] Ps 89:11; 102:25; 104:5
• [e] Lit know
• [f] Jb 1:6; 2:1; Gn 6:2,4
• [g] Lit swaddling clothes
• [h] Jb 26:8-9; 37:11; 2 Sm 22:10