Job 38:3-13

3 Gird thou as a man thy loins; I shall ask thee, and answer thou [to] me. (Gird thou up thy loins like a man; I shall ask thee, and thou shalt answer me.)

4 Where were thou, when I set the foundaments of the earth? (when I made the foundations of the earth?) show thou to me, if thou hast understanding.

5 Who setted [the] measure(ment)s thereof, if thou knowest? either who stretched forth a line thereupon?

6 Upon what thing be the foundaments thereof made (stead)fast? either who sent down the cornerstone thereof,

7 when the morrow stars praised me together, and all the sons of God sang joyfully?

8 Who closed together the sea with doors, when it brake out coming forth as of the womb? (Who altogether enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke out as if coming forth from the womb?)

9 When I setted a cloud the covering thereof, and I wrapped it with darkness, as with (the) ?clothes of young childhood.

10 I (en)compassed it with my terms, and I setted a bar, and doors; (I surrounded it with borders, and I set its doors and bars in place;)

11 and I said, Hitherto thou shalt come, and thou shalt not go further; and here thou shalt break together thy swelling waves. (and I said, Thou shalt come hitherto, and thou shalt go no further; and here thou shalt altogether break thy swelling waves.)

12 Whether after thy birth thou commandedest to the beginning of the day, and showedest to the morrowtide his place? (and hast shown, or told, the morning its place?)

13 Whether thou heldest shaking together the last parts of [the] earth, and shakedest away [the] wicked men therefrom? (Hast thou taught it to take hold of the last parts of the earth, and shakedest out the wicked from there?)

Job 38:3-13 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.