Job 38:20

20 That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house?

Job 38:20 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:20

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof
Either darkness, or rather the light; take it as it were by the hand, and guide and direct its course to its utmost bound. This only the Lord can do and does: he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which goes forth at his command as a strong man to run a race; whose going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: in which his course is so steered and directed by the Lord, that he never misses his way or errs from it; but keeps his path exactly, as well as knows its rising and setting, its utmost bounds;

and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] the house thereof?
from whence it sets out, and whither it returns; see ( Psalms 19:4-6 ) . And so the light and darkness of prosperity and adversity, as well as natural light and darkness, are of God, at his disposal, and bounded by him, and therefore his will should be submitted to; which is the doctrine the Lord would teach Job by all this.

Job 38:20 In-Context

18 Hath thine understanding compassed the breadths of the earth? Declare if thou knowest it all.

19 Where is the way to where light dwelleth? and the darkness, where is its place,

20 That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house?

21 Thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!

22 Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,