Job 38:16-24

The vast beyond

16 Have you gone to the sea's sources, walked in the chamber of the deep?

17 Have death's gates been revealed to you; can you see the gates of deep darkness?

18 Have you surveyed earth's expanses? Tell me if you know everything about it.

19 Where's the road to the place where light dwells; darkness, where's it located?

20 Can you take it to its territory; do you know the paths to its house?

21 You know, for you were born then; you have lived such a long time!

22 Have you gone to snow's storehouses, seen the storehouses of hail

23 that I have reserved for a time of distress, for a day of battle and war?

24 What is the way to the place where light is divided up; the east wind scattered over earth?

Job 38:16-24 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or the number of your days is many