Job 38:11

11 And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee.

Job 38:11 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:11

And said, hitherto shalt thou come, but no further
The waters of the sea shall spread themselves to such and such shores, and wash them, but go no further; its rolling tides shall go up so far in rivers that go out of it, and then return, keeping exactly to time and place; this is said by Jehovah, the Word of God, and through his almighty power is tended to;

and here shall thy proud waves be stayed;
so high and no higher shall they lift up themselves; so far and no farther shall they roll on, than to the boundaries fixed for them; and though they may toss up themselves as proud men toss up their heads, for which, reason pride is ascribed to them, yet they shall not prevail, ( Jeremiah 5:22 ) ; all this may be accommodated to the afflictions of God's people, which are sometimes compared to the waves and billows of the sea, ( Psalms 42:7 ) ( 88:7 ) ; and these issue out of the womb of God's purposes and decrees, and are not the effects of chance; they are many, and threaten to overwhelm, but God is with his people in them, and preserves them from being overflowed by them; he has set the bounds and measures of them, beyond which they cannot go; see ( Isaiah 27:8 ) ( 43:2 ) ; and also to the world, and to the men of it, who are like a troubled sea, ( Daniel 7:2 Daniel 7:3 ) ( Isaiah 57:20 ) ; and who rise, and swell, and dash against the people of God, being separated from them who were originally mixed with them; but the Lord restrains their wrath and fury, and suffers them not to do his people any harm; whom he has placed in the munition of rocks out of their reach, that those proud waters cannot go over them as they threaten to do; see ( Psalms 76:10 ) ( 124:2-6 ) .

Job 38:11 In-Context

9 And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist.

10 And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.

11 And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee.

12 Or did I order the morning light in thy time; and the morning star see his appointed place;

13 to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it?