Job 38:24-34

24 Have you been to the place where the sun comes up, or the place from which the east wind blows?

25 Who dug a channel for the pouring rain and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?

26 Who makes rain fall where no one lives?

27 Who waters the dry and thirsty land, so that grass springs up?

28 Does either the rain or the dew have a father?

29 Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,

30 which turn the waters to stone and freeze the face of the sea?

31 Can you tie the Pleiades together ¹ or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?

32 Can you guide the stars season by season and direct the Big and the Little Dipper?

33 Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth?

34 Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain?

Job 38:24-34 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. 38.31Job 9.9;Amos 5.8.