Job 38:17-27

17 Have the gates of death been opened to you? Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?

18 Do you understand how wide the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things.

19 "What is the path to light's home, and where does darkness live?

20 Can you take them to their places? Do you know the way to their homes?

21 Surely you know, if you were already born when all this happened! Have you lived that many years?

22 "Have you ever gone into the storehouse of the snow or seen the storehouses for hail,

23 which I save for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?

24 Where is the place from which light comes? Where is the place from which the east winds blow over the earth?

25 Who cuts a waterway for the heavy rains and sets a path for the thunderstorm?

26 Who waters the land where no one lives, the desert that has no one in it?

27 Who sends rain to satisfy the empty land so the grass begins to grow?

Job 38:17-27 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.