Job 38:29-39

29 Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?

30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.

31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?

32 Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?

33 Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?

34 “Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?

35 Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?

36 Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?

37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven

38 when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods?

39 “Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites

Job 38:29-39 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.