Job 38:19-29

19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,

20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern ¹the paths to its home?

21 You know, for ²you were born then, and the number of your days is great!

22 “Have you entered ³the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen ⁴the storehouses of the hail,

23 which I have reserved ⁵for the time of trouble, ⁶for the day of battle and war?

24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25 “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and ⁷a way for the thunderbolt,

26 to bring rain on ⁸a land where no man is, on ⁹the desert in which there is no man,

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with ¹⁰grass?

28 “Has ¹¹the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb did ¹²the ice come forth, and who has given birth to ¹³the frost of heaven?

Job 38:19-29 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.

Cross References

• 1. 38:20 ch. 24:13
• 2. 38:21 [ch. 15:7]
• 3. 38:22 [Ps. 135:7]
• 4. 38:22 [Ps. 135:7]
• 5. 38:23 Josh. 10:11; Isa. 28:17; 30:30; Ezek. 13:11, 13; 38:22; Rev. 16:21; [ch. 37:13]
• 6. 38:23 Josh. 10:11; Isa. 28:17; 30:30; Ezek. 13:11, 13; 38:22; Rev. 16:21; [ch. 37:13]
• 7. 38:25 ch. 28:26
• 8. 38:26 [ch. 37:13]
• 9. 38:26 Ps. 107:35
• 10. 38:27 Gen. 1:11; 2 Sam. 23:4
• 11. 38:28 Ps. 147:8; Jer. 14:22
• 12. 38:29 Ps. 147:16, 17
• 13. 38:29 Ps. 147:16, 17