Job 38:18

18 As-tu compris l'étendue de la terre? Si tu sais tout cela, dis-le!

Job 38:18 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:18

Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?
&c.] Which may be put for all the dimensions of it, length, breadth, diameter, and circumference, but especially it regards the surface of it, and the measurement of that; hast thou gone over the whole face of the earth and measured it, all its parts, its hills and dales, rocks and mountains, and took a survey of all the cities, towns and villages, woods, forests, fountains, rivers, &c? no; if a man lived as long as Methuselah, and spent all his days in this way, he could never be able to do it; and some parts are inaccessible, and not to be measured by the most skilful geometer;

declare, if thou knowest it all;
the whole earth and every part of it, and all that is in it. Whether the other hemisphere and the antipodes were known in Job's time is a question; however not America, or the new world, which is a late discovery; and even now, in our most exact maps of the world, some parts are marked with "terra incognita", the unknown land.

Job 38:18 In-Context

16 As-tu pénétré jusqu'aux sources de la mer, et t'es-tu promené au fond de l'abîme?
17 Les portes de la mort se sont-elles découvertes à toi? Et as-tu vu les portes de l'ombre de la mort?
18 As-tu compris l'étendue de la terre? Si tu sais tout cela, dis-le!
19 Où est le chemin du séjour de la lumière? Et les ténèbres, où est leur demeure?
20 Car tu peux les ramener à leur domaine, et tu connais les sentiers de leur maison!
The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.