Job 38:19-29

19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

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

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

22 "Have you entered the storehouses ³of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the ⁴hail,

23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?

24 "Where is the way that ⁵the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

25 "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt *,

26 To bring ⁶rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it,

27 To ⁷satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

28 "Has ⁸the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 "From whose womb has come the ⁹ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

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. Job 26:10
• 2. Job 15:7
• 3. Job 37:6
• 4. Exodus 9:18; Joshua 10:11; Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 13:11, 13; Revelation 16:21
• 5. Job 26:10
• 6. Job 36:27
• 7. Psalms 104:13, 14; Psalms 107:35
• 8. Job 36:27, 28; Psalms 147:8; Jeremiah 14:22
• 9. Job 37:10; Psalms 147:17

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "house"
• [b] Lit "man"
• [c] Or "growth"