Job 38:12

12 Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?

Job 38:12 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:12

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days;
&c.] Job had lived to see many a morning, but it never was in his power to command one; he had been in such circumstances as to wish for morning light before it was, but was obliged to wait for it, could not hasten it, or cause it to spring before its time; see ( Job 7:3 Job 7:4 ) ; one of the Targums is,

``wast thou in the days of the first creation, and commandedst the morning to be?''

he was not, God was; he was before the first morning, and commanded it into being, ( Genesis 1:3-5 ) ( Isaiah 43:13 ) ;

[and] caused the dayspring to know his place;
the first spring of light or dawn of day; which though it has a different place every day in the year, as the sun ascends or descends in the signs of the Zodiac, yet it knows and observes its exact place, being taught of God.

Job 38:12 In-Context

10 I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:

11 And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.

12 Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place?

13 And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?

14 The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment.