Job 38:18

18 Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?

Job 38:18 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:18

Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?
&c.] Which may be put for all the dimensions of it, length, breadth, diameter, and circumference, but especially it regards the surface of it, and the measurement of that; hast thou gone over the whole face of the earth and measured it, all its parts, its hills and dales, rocks and mountains, and took a survey of all the cities, towns and villages, woods, forests, fountains, rivers, &c? no; if a man lived as long as Methuselah, and spent all his days in this way, he could never be able to do it; and some parts are inaccessible, and not to be measured by the most skilful geometer;

declare, if thou knowest it all;
the whole earth and every part of it, and all that is in it. Whether the other hemisphere and the antipodes were known in Job's time is a question; however not America, or the new world, which is a late discovery; and even now, in our most exact maps of the world, some parts are marked with "terra incognita", the unknown land.

Job 38:18 In-Context

16 Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?
18 Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things?
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness?
20 That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.
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