15 Do you know how God controls them, And causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
For he looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole sky. He establishes the force of the wind; Yes, he measures out the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder; Then did he see it, and declare it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.
Who gave him a charge over the earth? Or who has appointed him over the whole world?
Yes, he loads the thick cloud with moisture. He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning.
"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? Whereupon were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? "Or who shut up the sea with doors, When it broke forth from the womb, When I made clouds the garment of it, Thick darkness a swaddling-band for it, Marked out for it my bound, Set bars and doors, And said, 'Here you may come, but no further; Here shall your proud waves be stayed?' "Have you commanded the morning in your days, And caused the dawn to know its place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And shake the wicked out of it? It is changed as clay under the seal, And stands forth as a garment. From the wicked, their light is withheld, The high arm is broken. "Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all. "What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is the place of it, That you should take it to the bound of it, That you should discern the paths to the house of it? Surely you know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great! Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, Or have you seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war? By what way is the lightning distributed, Or the east wind scattered on the earth? Who has cut a channel for the flood water, Or the path for the thunderstorm; To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, in which there is no man; To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, To cause the tender grass to spring forth? Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it? The waters become hard like stone, When the surface of the deep is frozen. "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loosen the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish the dominion of it over the earth? "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?' Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky, When the dust runs into a mass, And the clods of earth stick together? "Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, When they crouch in their dens, And lie in wait in the thicket? Who provides for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry to God, And wander for lack of food?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 37
Commentary on Job 37 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 37
Job 37:1-24.
1. At this—when I hear the thundering of the Divine Majesty. Perhaps the storm already had begun, out of which God was to address Job (Job 38:1).
2. Hear attentively—the thunder (noise), &c., and then you will feel that there is good reason to tremble.
sound—muttering of the thunder.
3. directeth it—however zigzag the lightning's course; or, rather, it applies to the pealing roll of the thunder. God's all-embracing power.
ends—literally, "wings," "skirts," the habitable earth being often compared to an extended garment (Job 38:13; Isa 11:12).
4. The thunderclap follows at an interval after the flash.
stay them—He will not hold back the lightnings (Job 37:3), when the thunder is heard [Maurer]. Rather, take "them" as the usual concomitants of thunder, namely, rain and hail [Umbreit] (Job 40:9).
5. (Job 36:26; Ps 65:6; 139:14). The sublimity of the description lies in this, that God is everywhere in the storm, directing it whither He will [Barnes]. See Ps 29:1-11, where, as here, the "voice" of God is repeated with grand effect. The thunder in Arabia is sublimely terrible.
6. Be—more forcible than "fall," as Umbreit translates Ge 1:3.
to the small rain, &c.—He saith, Be on the earth. The shower increasing from "small" to "great," is expressed by the plural "showers" (Margin), following the singular "shower." Winter rain (So 2:11).
7. In winter God stops man's out-of-doors activity.
sealeth—closeth up (Job 9:7). Man's "hands" are then tied up.
his work—in antithesis to man's own work ("hand") which at other times engages men so as to make them liable to forget their dependence on God. Umbreit more literally translates, That all men whom He has made (literally, "of His making") may be brought to acknowledgment."
8. remain—rest in their lairs. It is beautifully ordered that during the cold, when they could not obtain food, many lie torpid, a state wherein they need no food. The desolation of the fields, at God's bidding, is poetically graphic.
9. south—literally, "chambers"; connected with the south (Job 9:9). The whirlwinds are poetically regarded as pent up by God in His southern chambers, whence He sends them forth (so Job 38:22; Ps 135:7). As to the southern whirlwinds (see Isa 21:1; Zec 9:14), they drive before them burning sands; chiefly from February to May.
the north—literally, "scattering"; the north wind scatters the clouds.
10. the breath of God—poetically, for the ice-producing north wind.
frost—rather, "ice."
straitened—physically accurate; frost compresses or contracts the expanded liquid into a congealed mass (Job 38:29, 30; Ps 147:17, 18).
11-13. How the thunderclouds are dispersed, or else employed by God, either for correction or mercy.
by watering—by loading it with water.
wearieth—burdeneth it, so that it falls in rain; thus "wearieth" answers to the parallel "scattereth" (compare, see on Job 37:9); a clear sky resulting alike from both.
bright cloud—literally, "cloud of his light," that is, of His lightning. Umbreit for "watering," &c., translates; "Brightness drives away the clouds, His light scattereth the thick clouds"; the parallelism is thus good, but the Hebrew hardly sanctions it.
12. it—the cloud of lightning.
counsels—guidance (Ps 148:8); literally, "steering"; the clouds obey God's guidance, as the ship does the helmsman. So the lightning (see on Job 36:31, 32); neither is haphazard in its movements.
they—the clouds, implied in the collective singular "it."
face of the world, &c.—in the face of the earth's circle.
13. Literally, "He maketh it (the rain-cloud) find place," whether for correction, if (it be destined) for His land (that is, for the part inhabited by man, with whom God deals, as opposed to the parts uninhabited, on which rain is at other times appointed to fall, Job 38:26, 27) or for mercy. "If it be destined for His land" is a parenthetical supposition [Maurer]. In English Version, this clause spoils the even balance of the antithesis between the "rod" (Margin) and "mercy" (Ps 68:9; Ge 7:1-24).
14. (Ps 111:2).
15. when—rather, "how."
disposed them—lays His charge on these "wonders" (Job 37:14) to arise.
light—lightning.
shine—flash. How is it that light arises from the dark thundercloud?
16. Hebrew, "Hast thou understanding of the balancings," &c., how the clouds are poised in the air, so that their watery gravity does not bring them to the earth? The condensed moisture, descending by gravity, meets a warmer temperature, which dissipates it into vapor (the tendency of which is to ascend) and so counteracts the descending force.
perfect in knowledge—God; not here in the sense that Elihu uses it of himself (Job 36:4).
dost thou know—how, &c.
17. thy garments, &c.—that is, dost thou know how thy body grows warm, so as to affect thy garments with heat?
south wind—literally, "region of the south." "When He maketh still (and sultry) the earth (that is, the atmosphere) by (during) the south wind" (So 4:16).
18. with him—like as He does (Job 40:15).
spread out—given expanse to.
strong pieces—firm; whence the term "firmament" ("expansion," Ge 1:6, Margin; Isa 44:24).
molten looking glass—image of the bright smiling sky. Mirrors were then formed of molten polished metal, not glass.
19. Men cannot explain God's wonders; we ought, therefore, to be dumb and not contend with God. If Job thinks we ought, "let him teach us, what we shall say."
order—frame.
darkness—of mind; ignorance. "The eyes are bewilderingly blinded, when turned in bold controversy with God towards the sunny heavens" (Job 37:18) [Umbreit].
20. What I a mortal say against God's dealings is not worthy of being told Him. In opposition to Job's wish to "speak" before God (Job 13:3, 18-22).
if … surely he shall be swallowed up—The parallelism more favors Umbreit, "Durst a man speak (before Him, complaining) that he is (without cause) being destroyed?"
21. cleanseth—that is, cleareth the air of clouds. When the "bright light" of the sun, previously not seen through "clouds," suddenly shines out from behind them, owing to the wind clearing them away, the effect is dazzling to the eye; so if God's majesty, now hidden, were suddenly revealed in all its brightness, it would spread darkness over Job's eyes, anxious as he is for it (compare, see on Job 37:19) [Umbreit]. It is because now man sees not the bright sunlight (God's dazzling majesty), owing to the intervening "clouds" (Job 26:9), that they dare to wish to "speak" before God (Job 37:20). Prelude to God's appearance (Job 38:1). The words also hold true in a sense not intended by Elihu, but perhaps included by the Holy Ghost. Job and other sufferers cannot see the light of God's countenance through the clouds of trial: but the wind will soon clear them off, and God shall appear again: let them but wait patiently, for He still shines, though for a time they see Him not (see on Job 37:23).
22. Rather, "golden splendor." Maurer translates "gold." It is found in northern regions. But God cannot be "found out," because of His "Majesty" (Job 37:23). Thus the twenty-eighth chapter corresponds; English Version is simpler.
the north—Brightness is chiefly associated with it (see on Job 23:9). Here, perhaps, because the north wind clears the air (Pr 25:23). Thus this clause answers to the last of Job 37:21; as the second of this verse to the first of Job 37:21. Inverted parallelism. (See Isa 14:13; Ps 48:2).
with God—rather, "upon God," as a garment (Ps 104:1, 2).
majesty—splendor.
23. afflict—oppressively, so as to "pervert judgment" as Job implied (see on Job 8:3); but see on Job 37:21, end of note. The reading, "He answereth not," that is, gives no account of His dealings, is like a transcriber's correction, from Job 33:13, Margin.
24. do—rather, "ought."
wise—in their own conceits.