Job 28:26(v25)When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
Jeremiah 14:22(vv26, 28)Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers? Aren’t you he, Yahweh our God? Therefore…
Job 38:12-13(v24)“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…
Psalms 147:8(v28)who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains.
Psalms 147:16-17(v29)He gives snow like wool, and scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can stand before his cold?
Show all 39 cross-references
Proverbs 3:20(v28)By his knowledge, the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew.
Jeremiah 10:13(v28)When he utters his voice, the waters in the heavens roar, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes…
Job 38:8(vv28–29)“Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,
Genesis 27:28(v28)God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.
Genesis 27:39(v28)Isaac his father answered him, “Behold, your dwelling will be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the sky from above.
Deuteronomy 33:13(v28)About Joseph he said, “His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches…
Deuteronomy 33:28(v28)Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew.
1 Samuel 12:17-18(v28)Isn’t it wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh, that he may send thunder and rain; and you will know and see that your wickedness is…
2 Samuel 1:21(v28)You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you, and no fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled and…
1 Kings 17:1(v28)Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there…
Job 5:9-10(v28)who does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number; who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields;
Job 29:19(v28)My root is spread out to the waters. The dew lies all night on my branch.
Job 37:10(v29)By the breath of God, ice is given, and the width of the waters is frozen.
Psalms 65:9-10(v28)You visit the earth, and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide them grain, for so you have…
Jeremiah 5:24(v28)They don’t say in their heart, ‘Let’s now fear Yahweh our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves…
Hosea 14:5(v28)I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.
Joel 2:23(v28)“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the early rain in just measure, and he causes the…
Amos 4:7(v28)“I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused…
Matthew 5:45(v28)that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just…
Psalms 107:35(vv26–27)He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.
Job 6:16(v29)Which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself.
Psalms 29:3-10(v25)Yahweh’s voice is on the waters. The God of glory thunders, even Yahweh on many waters. Yahweh’s voice is powerful. Yahweh’s voice is full…
Jonah 4:8(v24)When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that…
Matthew 24:27(v24)For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Hebrews 6:7-8(v26)For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it and produces a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled,…
Job 36:27(v26)For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor,
Job 36:27-28(v25)For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor, which the skies pour down and which drop on man abundantly.
Job 37:3-6(v25)He sends it out under the whole sky, and his lightning to the ends of the earth. After it a voice roars. He thunders with the voice of his…
Psalms 104:10-14(v26)He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains. They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench…
Psalms 104:14(v27)He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth:
Psalms 147:8-9(v26)who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains. He provides food for the livestock,…
Isaiah 35:1-2(v26)The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even…
Isaiah 43:19-20(v26)Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.…
Isaiah 41:18-19(v26)I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the middle of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry…
39 distinct cross-references across this passage (42 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv24–29Job 38:24 By what way is the light parted,…
Job 38:24 By what way is the light parted, [which] scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
Ver. 24. By what way is the light parted] sc. From the clouds by lightning, or from darkness by the sunrising? Knowest thou that? Or the cause of it? Nothing less. Something philosophers have to say here, but upon no great certainty.
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Which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?] Eurus est ventus urens, exsiccans; the east wind hath its name in Hebrew from the sunrising; the Latins call it, Venture subsolanum, as that which usually followeth the rising sun; but whence it cometh, and whither it goeth, is more than Job or any other can tell.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv24–29By what way; dost thou know all the causes,…
By what way; dost thou know all the causes, means, methods, and circumstances of this work of God? Is the light parted or dispersed or distributed, to wit, in the air, or upon the face of the earth? By
light he understands either,
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1. The lightning, which breaks forth suddenly out of a cloud, and with strange swiftness disperseth itself, and fleeth from east to west, as is noted, Mat 24:27. But this word light put by itself, and being understood properly, is constantly used in this book for the light of the sun, and never for the lightning; and where it is meant of the lightning, there is some other word added to it, as Job 37:15, where it is called the light of his cloud. And besides, he speaks of the lightning in the next verse; which were superfluous, if it were here mentioned. Or rather,
2. Of the light of the sun, which is commonly called light without any other word added to it, as Job 3:4,9,16; 24:14; 25:3, &c. And this light of the sun is variously parted or distributed in the world, shining in one place and time, when it doth not shine in another; or for a longer time, or with greater brightness, and power, and virtue, than it doth in another; all which are the effects of God’s infinite wisdom and power, and such as were out of Job’s reach to understand, or at least to effect.
Which scattereth the east wind upon the earth, i.e. which light scattereth, &c., i.e. raiseth, the east wind, and causeth it to blow hither and thither upon the earth. For as the sun is justly called by the poets and others the father of the winds, because he draws up those exhalations which give matter to the winds, and for other reasons; so in particular the east wind is oft observed to rise together with the sun, from which also it hath both its Latin and Greek name. But some make this a distinct question from the former, and render the words thus; and (repeat, by which way)
the east wind (under which all the other winds may be comprehended) scattereth itself upon the earth, i.e. whence the winds come, and whither they go, which is mentioned as a secret in nature, Joh 3:8, and how it comes to pass that they blow in such several manners, and with such various and even contrary effects. Or thus, and by which way the east wind scattereth (to wit, the clouds, or other light things; for this is noted in Scripture to be a most vehement wind, and to scatter the clouds, Exo 14:21; Jon 4:8)
upon the earth, i.e. whence it comes to pass that the east wind was so violent and furious. But the words may be rendered thus, which (i.e. which light of the sun, or when it, to wit, this light) scattereth itself (as divers here render this word, that conjugation being often used reciprocally, as is confessed) from (the prefix mem being understood, as it is very frequently in the Hebrew text)
the east (for this Hebrew word doth not only signify the eastern wind, but also the east, or the eastern part of the heavens or earth, as Eze 40:19; 42:16; Hab 1:9, and in many other places; and kedem, the root of this word, is constantly so used) upon or over the earth, all over the earth. And this is justly mentioned as a wonderful work of God, that as soon as ever the sun ariseth, it parteth or scattereth its light in an instant from one end of the hemisphere to another. But this I propose with submission.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v25Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as…
Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as were proper to convince him of his ignorance and short-sightedness. Now he comes, in the same manner, to show his impotency and weakness. As it is but little that he knows, and therefore he ought not to arraign the divine counsels, so it is but little that he can do, and therefore he ought not to oppose the proceedings of Providence. Let him consider what great things God does, and try whether he can do the like, or whether he thinks himself an equal match for him.
I. God has thunder, and lightning, and rain, and frost, at command, but Job has not, and therefore let him not dare to compare himself with God, or to contend with him. Nothing is more uncertain than what weather it shall be, nor more out of our reach to appoint; it shall be what weather pleases God, not what pleases us, unless, as becomes us, whatever pleases God pleases us. Concerning this observe here,
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1. How great God is.
(1.) He has a sovereign dominion over the waters, has appointed them their course, even then when they seem to overflow and to be from under his check, Job 38:25. He has divided a water-course, directs the rain where to fall, even when the shower is most violent, with as much certainty as if it were conveyed by canals or conduit-pipes. Thus the hearts of kings are said to be in God's hand; and as the rains, those rivers of God, he turns them whithersoever he will. Every drop goes as it is directed. God has sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more return to cover the earth; and we see that he is able to make good what he has promised, for he has the rain in a water-course.
(2.) He has dominion over the lightning and the thunder, which go not at random, but in the way that he directs them. They are mentioned here because he prepares the lightnings for the rain, Psa 135:7. Let not those that fear God be afraid of the lightning or the thunder, for they are not blind bullets, but go the way that God himself, who means no hurt to them, directs.
(3.) In directing the course of the rain he does not neglect the wilderness, the desert land (Job 38:26, Job 38:27), where no man is. [1.] Where there is no man to be employed in taking care of the productions. God's providence reaches further than man's industry. If he had not more kindness for many of the inferior creatures than man has, it would go ill with them. God can make the earth fruitful without any art or pains of ours, Gen 2:5, Gen 2:6. When there was not a man to till the ground, yet there went up a mist and watered it. But we cannot make it fruitful without God; it is he that gives the increase. [2.] Where there is no man to be provided for nor to take the benefit of the fruits that are produced. Though God does with very peculiar favour visit and regard man, yet he does not overlook the inferior creatures, but causes the bud of the tender herb to spring forth for food for all flesh, as well as for the service of man. Even the wild asses shall have their thirst quenched, Psa 104:11. God has enough for all, and wonderfully provides even for those creatures that man neither has service from nor makes provision for.
(4.) He is, in a sense, the Father of the rain, Job 38:28. It has no other father. He produces it by his power; he governs and directs it, and makes what use he pleases of it. Even the small drops of the dew he distils upon the earth, as the God of nature; and, as the God of grace, he rains righteousness upon us and is himself as the dew unto Israel. See Hos 14:5, Hos 14:6; Mic 5:7.
(5.) The ice and the frost, by which the waters are congealed and the earth incrustrated, are produced by his providence, Job 38:29, Job 38:30. These are very common things, which lessens the strangeness of them. But, considering what a vast change is made by them in a very little time, how the waters are hid as with a stone, as with a grave-stone, laid upon them (so thick, so strong, is the ice that covers them), and the face even of the deep is sometimes frozen, we may well ask, "Out of whose womb came the ice? What created power could produce such a wonderful work?" No power but that of the Creator himself. Frost and snow come from him, and therefore should lead our thoughts and meditations to him who does such great things, past finding out. And we shall the more easily bear the inconveniences of winter-weather if we learn to make this good use of it.
2. How weak man is. Can he do such things as these? Could Job? No, v. 34, 35. (1.) He cannot command one shower of rain for the relief of himself or his friends: "Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, those bottles of heaven, that abundance of waters may cover thee, to water thy fields when they are dry and parched?" If we lift up our voice to God, to pray for rain, we may have it (Zac 10:1); but if we lift up our voice to the clouds, to demand it, they will soon tell us they are not at our beck, and we shall go without it, Jer 14:22. The heavens will not her the earth unless God hear them, Hos 2:21. See what poor, indigent, depending creatures we are; we cannot do without rain, nor can we have it when we will. (2.) He cannot commission one flash of lightning, if he had a mind to make use of it for the terror of his enemies (Job 38:35): "Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go on thy errand, and do the execution thou desirest? Will they come at thy call, and say unto thee, Here we are?" No, the ministers of God's wrath will not be ministers of ours. Why should they, since the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God? See Luk 9:55.
II. God has the stars of heaven under his command and cognizance, but we have them not under ours. Our meditations are now to rise higher, far above the clouds, to the glorious lights above. God mentions particularly, not the planets, which move in lower orbs, but the fixed stars, which are much higher. It is supposed that they have an influence upon this earth, notwithstanding their vast distance, not upon the minds of men or the events of providence (men's fate is not determined by their stars), but upon the ordinary course of nature; they are set for signs and seasons, for days and years, Gen 1:14. And if the stars have such a dominion over this earth (Job 38:33), though they have their place in the heavens and are but mere matter, much more has he who is their Maker and ours, and who is an Eternal Mind. Now see how weak we are. 1. We cannot alter the influences of the stars (Job 38:31), not theirs that are instrumental to produce the pleasures of the spring: Canst thou loose the bands of Orion? - that magnificent constellation which makes so great a figure (none greater), and dispenses rough and unpleasing influences, which we cannot control nor repel. Both summer and winter will have their course. God can change them when he pleases, can make the spring cold, and so bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, and the winter warm, and so loose the bands of Orion; but we cannot. 2. It is not in our power to order the motions of the stars, nor are we entrusted with the guidance of them. God, who calls the stars by their names (Psa 147:4), calls them forth in their respective seasons, appointing them the time of their rising and setting. But this is not our province; we cannot bring forth Mazzaroth - the stars in the southern signs, nor guide Arcturus - those in the northern, Job 38:32. God can bring forth the stars to battle (as he did when in their courses they fought against Sisera) and guide them in the attacks they are ordered to make; but man cannot do so. 3. We are not only unconcerned in the government of the stars (the government they are under, and the government they are entrusted with, for they both rule and are ruled), but utterly unacquainted with it; we know not the ordinances of heaven, Job 38:33. So far are we from being able to change them that we can give no account of them; they are a secret to us. Shall we then pretend to know God's counsels, and the reasons of them? If it were left to us to set the dominion of the stars upon the earth, we should soon be at a loss. Shall we then teach God how to govern the world?
III. God is the author and giver, the father and fountain, of all wisdom and understanding, Job 38:36. The souls of men are nobler and more excellent beings than the stars of heaven themselves, and shine more brightly. The powers and faculties of reason with which man is endued, and the wonderful performances of thought, bring him into some alliance to the blessed angels; and whence comes this light, but from the Father of lights? Who else has put wisdom into the inner parts of man, and given understanding to the heart? 1. The rational soul itself, and its capacities, come from him as the God of nature; for he forms the spirit of man within him. We did not make our own souls, nor can we describe how they act, nor how they are united to our bodies. He only that made them knows them, and knows how to manage them. He fashioneth men's hearts alike in some things, and yet unlike in others. 2. True wisdom, with its furniture and improvement, comes from him as the God of grace and the Father of every good and perfect gift. Shall we pretend to be wiser than God, when we have all our wisdom from him? Nay, shall we pretend to be wise above our sphere, and beyond the limits which he that gave us our understanding sets to it? He designed we should with it serve God and do our duty, but never intended we should with it set up for directors of the stars or the lightning.
IV. God has the clouds under his cognizance and government, but so have not we, Job 38:37. Can any man, with all his wisdom, undertake to number the clouds, or (as it may be read) to declare and describe the nature of them? Though they are near us, in our own atmosphere, yet we know little more of them than of the stars which are at so great a distance. And when the clouds have poured down rain in abundance, so that the dust grows into solid mire and the clods cleave fast together (Job 38:38), who can stay the bottles of heaven? Who can stop them, that it may not always rain? The power and goodness of God are herein to be acknowledged, that he gives the earth rain enough, but does not surfeit it, softens it, but does not drown it, makes it fit for the plough, but not unfit for the seed. As we cannot command a shower of rain, so we cannot command a fair day, without God; so necessary, so constant, is our dependence upon him.
V. God provides food for the inferior creatures, and it is by his providence, not by any care or pains of ours, that they are fed. The following chapter is wholly taken up with the instances of God's power and goodness about animals, and therefore some transfer to it the last three verses of this chapter, which speak of the provision made, 1. For the lions, Job 38:39, Job 38:40. "Thou dost not pretend that the clouds and stars have any dependence upon thee, for they are above thee; but on the earth thou thinkest thyself paramount; let us try that then: Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? Thou valuest thyself upon thy possessions of cattle which thou wast once owner of, the oxen, and asses, and camels, that were fed at thy crib; but wilt thou undertake the maintenance of the lions, and the young lions, when they couch in their dens, waiting for a prey? No, needest not do it, they can shift for themselves without thee: thou canst not do it, for thou hast not wherewithal to satisfy them: thou darest not do it; shouldst thou come to feed them, they would seize upon thee. But I do it." See the all-sufficiency of the divine providence: it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living thing, even the most ravenous. See the bounty of the divine Providence, that, wherever it has given life, it will give livelihood, even to those creatures that are not only not serviceable, but dangerous, to man. And see its sovereignty, that it suffers some creatures to be killed for the support of other creatures. The harmless sheep are torn to pieces, to fill the appetite of the young lions, who yet sometimes are made to lack and suffer hunger, to punish them for their cruelty, while those that fear God want no good thing. 2. For the young ravens, Job 38:41. As ravenous beasts, so ravenous birds, are fed by the divine Providence. Who but God provides for the raven his food? Man does not; he takes care only of those creatures that are, or may be, useful to him. But God has a regard to all the works of his hands, even the meanest and least valuable. The ravens' young ones are in a special manner necessitous, and God supplies them, Psa 147:9. God's feeding the fowls, especially these fowls (Mat 6:26), is an encouragement to us to trust him for our daily bread. See here, (1.) What distress the young ravens are often in: They wander for lack of meat. The old ones, they say, neglect them, and do not provide for them as other birds do for their young: and indeed those that are ravenous to others are commonly barbarous to their own, and unnatural. (2.) What they are supposed to do in that distress: They cry, for they are noisy clamorous creatures, and this is interpreted as crying to God. It being the cry of nature, it is looked upon as directed to the God of nature. The putting of so favourable a construction as this upon the cries of the young ravens may encourage us in our prayers, though we can but cry, Abba, Father. (3.) What God does for them. Some way or other he provides for them, so that they grow up, and come to maturity. And he that takes this care of the young ravens certainly will not be wanting to his people or theirs. This, being but one instance of many of the divine compassion, may give us occasion to think how much good our God does, every day, beyond what we are aware of.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv24–29Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of…
Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters,.... For a very large shower of rain, as the Vulgate Latin version: for this is not to be understood of an aqueduct, channel, or canal made on earth, either for the draining of waters off of land overflowed thereby, or for the conveyance of it to different parts to overflow it; such as were cut out of the Nile in Egypt, for the overflowing of the land, to make it fruitful; such may be and have been made by men: but of a watercourse in the air or atmosphere, as a canal or channel, for the rain to come down upon the earth; and this is the work of God, and him only, who directs and steers the course of rain, that it falls regularly and gently, not in spouts and floods, but in drops larger or lesser, on what spot of ground, or part of the earth, he pleases: and if what Jarchi says true, that every drop has its course, its canal, through which it passes, it is still more wonderful;
or a way for the lightning of thunder: which generally go together, and are of God. His fire and voice, and for which he makes a way, by which they burst and break forth out of the cloud, and their course is directed by him under the whole heavens; see Job 28:26. So the Gospel, compared to rain and lightning, has its direction and its course steered to what part of the world, he pleases; see Psa 19:4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv24–28Distributed - In the air, and upon the face…
Distributed - In the air, and upon the face of the earth. This is variously distributed in the world, shining in one place and time, when it doth not shine in another, or for a longer time, or with greater brightness and power than it doth in another. All which are the effects of God's infinite wisdom and power, and such as were out of Job's reach to understand. Which - Which light scattereth, raises the east-wind, and causes it to blow hither and thither upon the earth? For as the sun is called by the poets, the father of the winds, because he draws up those exhalations which give matter to the winds, so in particular the east-wind is often observed to rise together with the sun.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv24–29Verse 24. By what way is the light parted]…
Verse 24. By what way is the light parted] Who can accurately describe the cause and operation of a thunder cloud, the cause, nature, and mode of operation of the lightning itself? Is it a simple element or compound substance? What is its velocity? and why not conductible by every kind of substance, as it is known to exist in all, and, indeed, to be diffused through every portion of nature? How is it parted? How does it take its zigzag form? this is the curious, indescribable, and unknown parting. Are all the causes of positive and negative electricity found out? What are its particles, and how do they cohere, and in what order are they propagated? Much has been said on all these points, and how little of that much satisfactorily!
Scattereth the east wind upon the earth?] קדים kadim, the eastern storm, euroclydon, or levanter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv24, 25, 26, 28Job 38:24. By what way is the light parted…
Job 38:24. By what way is the light parted — Or dispersed, or distributed, namely, in the air, or upon the face of the earth. This is variously distributed in the world, shining in one place and time, when it doth not shine in another, or for a longer time, or with greater brightness and power than it doth in another; all which are the effects of God’s infinite wisdom and power, and such as were out of Job’s reach to understand. Which scattereth the east wind — Which light scattereth, or raises the east wind, and causes it to blow hither and thither upon the earth? For as the sun is called by the poets, the father of the winds, because he rarefies the atmosphere by his heat, or condenses it by drawing up and loading it with vapours, and thereby destroys the equilibrium of it which produces winds; so, in particular, the east wind is often observed to rise together with the sun. But as there is no Hebrew for which, the words יפצ קדים, japhetz kadim, would, perhaps, be better translated, By what way does the east wind scatter itself? continuing the interrogation, and making this a distinct question. That is, whence do the winds come, and whither do they go? And how comes it to pass, that they blow in so many manners, and with such various and contrary effects?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv24–29By what way is the light parted - The…
By what way is the light parted - The reference here is to the light of the morning, that seems to come from one point, and to spread itself at once over the whole earth. It seems to be collected in the east, or, as it were, condensed or concentrated there, and then to divide itself, and to expand over the face of the world. God here asks Job whether he could explain this, or show in what manner it was done. This was one of the subjects which might be supposed early to excite inquiry, and is one which can be as little explained now as then. The causes of the propagation of light, which seems to proceed from a center and to spread rapidly in every direction, are perhaps as little known now as they were in the time of Job. Philosophy has done little to explain this, and the mode in which light is made to travel in eight minutes from the sun to the earth - a distance of ninety million miles - and the manner in which it is “divided” or “parted” from that great center, and spread over the solar system, is as much of a real mystery as it was in the days of Job, and the question proposed here may be asked now with as much emphasis as it was then.
Which scattereth the east wind upon the earth - According to this translation, the idea would be that somehow light is the cause of the east wind. But it may be doubted whether this is the true interpretation, and whether it is meant to be affirmed that light has any agency in causing the wind to blow. Herder renders it:
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“When doth the light divide itself,
When the east wind streweth it upon the earth?”
According to this, the idea would be that the light of the morning seemed to be borne along by the wind. Umbreit renders it, “Where is the way upon which the east wind flows forth upon the earth?” That is, the east wind, like the light, comes from a certain point, and seems to spread abroad over the world; and the question is, whether Job could explain this? This interpretation is adopted by Rosenmuller and Noyes, and seems to be demanded by the parallelism, and by the nature of the case. The cause of the rapid spreading of the wind from a certain point of the compass, was involved in as much obscurity as the propagation of the light, nor is that cause much better understood now. There is no reason to suppose that the spread of the light, has any particular agency in causing the east wind, as our common version seems to suppose, nor is that idea necessarily in the Hebrew text. The east wind is mentioned here either because the light comes from the east, and the wind from that quarter was more naturally suggested than any other, or because the east wind was remarkable for its violence. The idea that a strong east wind was somehow connected with the dawn of day or the rising of the sun, was one that prevailed, at least to some extent, among the ancients. Thus, Catullus (lxiv. 270ff) says:
Hic qualis flatu placidum mare matutino
Horrificans zephyrus proclivas incitat undas
Aurora exoriente, vagi sub lumina solis.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv24–26Heat. Hebrew kadim, (Haydock) the "east." Septuagint, "south wind."…
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Heat. Hebrew kadim, (Haydock) the "east." Septuagint, "south wind." Perhaps the east winds produced the same bad effects in Egypt, as the south wind did in Judea; (Calmet) or this noxious burning wind might proceed from the south-eastern point of both countries. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv24–29is . . . parted--parts, so as to diffuse…
is . . . parted--parts, so as to diffuse itself over the whole earth, though seeming to come from one point. Light travels from the sun to the earth, ninety millions of miles, in eight minutes.
which scattereth--rather, "And by what way the east wind (personified) spreads (scattereth) itself." The light and east wind are associated together, as both come from one quarter, and often arise together (Jon 4:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv24–2824. By what way, etc. — What is the…
24. By what way, etc. — What is the way that light divides itself? (Dillmann and Hitzig.) Which scattereth, etc. — [How] does the east wind scatter itself over the earth? The east wind, for diffusiveness and destructiveness corresponding to the Eurus of the classics, is here used representatively. It was an east wind that was summoned to hurl the wicked man out of his place, (Job_27:21, on which see note,) and an east wind also which broke the ships of Tarshish. Psa_48:7. The reason that light and the east wind are mentioned together may be that they both take their rise in the same quarter of the sky, or because of the extreme heat associated with each.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv24, 25, 26, 28, 2924. The verse seems to mean:
24. The verse seems to mean:
Which is the way to where the light is parted,
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And the east wind spreadeth over the earth?
The phrase in clause first is the same as in Job_38:19. The words may mean by which way, or road, is light parted? The “light” was already referred to in Job_38:19, and some consider the word to mean lightning here. This, however, comes from above and is spoken of in Job_38:25. More probably the reference is to the wonderful diffusion of light over the whole earth, and the query concerns the way or path by which this takes place. Such a path appears to lie in the East, from whence also the stormy wind spreads over the earth; hence the two are brought into connexion. Job, of course, knows the way along which this diffusion of light and wind takes place.
24–27. The stormy wind, rain and lightning.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv24–26(24) By what way is the light parted?—i.e., distributed…
(24) By what way is the light parted?—i.e., distributed in turn to all the inhabitants of the earth.
The east wind.—As naturally suggested by the origin of light and the mention of it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv24–29By what way is the light parted? or, distributed,…
By what way is the light parted? or, distributed, so as to be enjoyed by all the inhabitants of the earth (Stanley Loathes). Which scattereth, etc.; rather, or by what way is the east wind scattered over the earth? (see the Revised Version) Job is asked to explain God"s modus operandi in nature, which, of course, he cannot do. Hence his answer in Job_40:5.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv25, 28To cause it to rain on the earth.
Job_38:25-27
To cause it to rain on the earth.
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Rain and grace-a comparison
We shall work out a parallel between grace and rain.
I. God alone giveth rain and the same is true of grace. We say of rain and of grace,--God is the sole author of it. He devised and prepared the channel by which it comes to earth. He hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters. The Lord makes a way for grace to reach His people. He directs each drop, and gives each blade of grass its own drop of dew,--to every believer his portion of grace. He moderates the force, so that it does not beat down or drown the tender herb. Grace comes in its own gentle way. Conviction, enlightenment, etc., are sent in due measure. He holds it in His power. Absolutely at His own will does God bestow either rain for the earth, or grace for the soul.
II. Rain falls irrespective of men and so does grace. Grace waits not mans observation. As the rain falls where no man is, so grace courts not publicity. Nor his cooperation. It tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men (Mic_5:7). Nor his prayers. Grass calls not for rain, yet it comes. I am found of them that sought Me not (Isa_65:1). Nor his merits. Rain falls on the waste ground.
III. Rain falls where we might least have expected it. It falls where there is no trace of former showers, even upon the desolate wilderness; so does grace enter hearts which had hitherto been unblest, where great need was the only plea which rose to heaven (Isa_35:7). It falls where there seems nothing to repay the boon. Many hearts are naturally as barren as the desert (Isa_35:6). It falls where the need seems insatiable; to satisfy the desolate. Some cases seem to demand an ocean of grace; but the Lord meets the need; and His grace falls where the joy and glory are all directed to God by grateful hearts. Twice we are told that the rain falls where no man is. When conversion is wrought of the Lord, no man is seen: the Lord alone is exalted.
IV. This rain is most valued by life.
1. The rain gives joy to seeds and plants in which there is life. Budding life knows of it; the tenderest herb rejoices in it; so is it with those who begin to repent, who feebly believe, and thus are just alive.
2. The rain causes development. Grace also perfects grace. Buds of hope grow into strong faith. Buds of feeling expand into love. Buds of desire rise to resolve. Buds of confession come to open avowal. Buds of usefulness swell into fruit.
3. The rain causes health and vigour of life. Is it not so with grace?
4. The rain creates the flower with its colour and perfume, and God is pleased. The full outgrowth of renewed nature cometh of grace, and the Lord is well pleased therewith. Application--Let us acknowledge the sovereignty of God as to grace. Let us cry to Him for grace. Let us expect Him to send it though we may feel sadly barren, and quite out of the way of the usual means of grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Wherein there is so man.--
Fertility of uninhabited part of the earth
A distinguished naturalist, who is a Fellow of the Royal Society, describes how such a mistaken idea was corrected in his experience. Once he was pushing his way through a dense and tangled thicket in a lone and lofty region of Jamaica. Suddenly he came upon the most magnificent terrestrial orchid, in full bloom, which he had ever seen. It was a noble plant, crowned with the pyramidal spike of lily-like flowers, whose expanding petals seemed to his ravished gaze the very perfection of beauty. Then he began to reflect how long that exquisite plant had been growing in a wild, unvisited spot, every season filling the air around with its glory, and yet it could never have met a human gaze before. To what purpose is this waste? he asks himself. But ere long the true reply entered his mind. Speak not of waste! Can man alone admire beauty? Can man alone exult in it? Surely the eye of the Lord rests with delight on the perfect work of His hands, on the apt expression of His own sublime thought!
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v28God’s Majesty in the Wonders above the Earth
God’s Majesty in the Wonders above the Earth
v. 28. Hath the rain a father, as it drops down from the clouds of the sky? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew, which assemble from the vapor of the atmosphere above, and are therefore also brought into direct relation to God?
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v. 29. Out of whose womb came the ice? A mother is assumed here because ice is associated with the earth. And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
v. 30. The waters are hid as with a stone, drawing themselves together in a rigid mass as the frost takes hold of them, and the face of the deep is frozen, hanging together in a solid mass.
v. 31. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, the band of that constellation of springtime, in the larger constellation of Taurus, or loose the bands of Orion, the cords which hold this constellation to its place in the heavens, causing the stars to fall to the ground?
v. 32. Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth, a very bright constellation, in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus, the Great Bear of the northern sky, with his sons?
v. 33. Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven, the laws which guide the stars in their courses? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Did Job possess the authority and power to regulate the influence of the heavens and their stars upon earthly destinies?
v. 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, in commanding them to yield their moisture, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
v. 35. Canst thou send lightnings that they may go, at the command of Job, and say unto thee, Here we are, namely, at his disposal, ready to do his bidding?
v. 36. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts, teaching the dark clouds how to perform their work in the world? Or who hath given understanding to the heart, to the creatures of the atmosphere, so that the clouds know their arrangement in the various circumstances?
v. 37. Who can number the clouds in wisdom, appointing to them their number and extent? Or who can stay the bottles of heaven, who tilts them, who pours out their liquid contents,
v. 38. when the dust groweth into hardness, becoming a firm mass as in the rain-water molds its particles together, and the clods cleave fast together, caking into a hard mass? In all these things God is supreme, all the forces of the atmosphere and of the sky being subject to Him, by whose laws they are guided. The insignificance of man stands out all the more strongly by contrast.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv25, 28Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues to challenge Job.
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General Information:
Yahweh questions Job to emphasize that he causes it to rain and thunder and Job does not. (See: Rhetorical Question)
Who has created the channels for the floods of rain, or who has made ... sprout with grass?
This can be translated as a statement. AT: "Only I have created the channels for the floods of rain, and only I have made ... grass sprout up." (See: Rhetorical Question)
the floods of rain
"the torrents of rain"
a path for the thunder
"a way for the rumble of thunder to be heard."
on lands where no person exists, and on the wilderness, in which there is no one
These two phrases have nearly the same meaning. (See: Parallelism)
where no person exists
"where there are no people"
to satisfy
The implied information is that it is the rain that meets the needs of the land to grow grass. AT: "so that the rain can satisfy the needs of" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
devastated and desolate
"ruined and wasted." These two words have nearly the same meaning and emphasize the ruined and empty nature of these regions. (See: Hendiadys)
with grass
"the new grass" or "the fresh grass." This is grass that is just starting to grow.
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v2438:24-27 The east wind blows off the desert to…
38:24-27 The east wind blows off the desert to scorch crops (Gen 41:6, 23, 27; Jer 4:11; Jon 4:8) and dry up seas (Exod 14:21; Isa 11:15). It is an arid contrast to the torrents of rain that cause flooding. • Beneficial rain to satisfy the parched ground (Pss 104:10-11; 107:35; Isa 35:7; 58:11) stands in contrast to both scorching winds (Job 38:24) and flooding rains (38:25).
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv24–29 Job 38:24 By what way is the light parted,…
Job 38:24 By what way is the light parted, [which] scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
Ver. 24. By what way is the light parted] sc. From the clouds by lightning, or from darkness by the sunrising? Knowest thou that? Or the cause of it? Nothing less. Something philosophers have to say here, but upon no great certainty.
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Which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?] Eurus est ventus urens, exsiccans; the east wind hath its name in Hebrew from the sunrising; the Latins call it, Venture subsolanum, as that which usually followeth the rising sun; but whence it cometh, and whither it goeth, is more than Job or any other can tell.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv24–29 By what way; dost thou know all the causes,…
By what way; dost thou know all the causes, means, methods, and circumstances of this work of God? Is the light parted or dispersed or distributed, to wit, in the air, or upon the face of the earth? By
light he understands either,
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1. The lightning, which breaks forth suddenly out of a cloud, and with strange swiftness disperseth itself, and fleeth from east to west, as is noted, Mat 24:27. But this word light put by itself, and being understood properly, is constantly used in this book for the light of the sun, and never for the lightning; and where it is meant of the lightning, there is some other word added to it, as Job 37:15, where it is called the light of his cloud. And besides, he speaks of the lightning in the next verse; which were superfluous, if it were here mentioned. Or rather,
2. Of the light of the sun, which is commonly called light without any other word added to it, as Job 3:4,9,16; 24:14; 25:3, &c. And this light of the sun is variously parted or distributed in the world, shining in one place and time, when it doth not shine in another; or for a longer time, or with greater brightness, and power, and virtue, than it doth in another; all which are the effects of God’s infinite wisdom and power, and such as were out of Job’s reach to understand, or at least to effect.
Which scattereth the east wind upon the earth, i.e. which light scattereth, &c., i.e. raiseth, the east wind, and causeth it to blow hither and thither upon the earth. For as the sun is justly called by the poets and others the father of the winds, because he draws up those exhalations which give matter to the winds, and for other reasons; so in particular the east wind is oft observed to rise together with the sun, from which also it hath both its Latin and Greek name. But some make this a distinct question from the former, and render the words thus; and (repeat, by which way)
the east wind (under which all the other winds may be comprehended) scattereth itself upon the earth, i.e. whence the winds come, and whither they go, which is mentioned as a secret in nature, Joh 3:8, and how it comes to pass that they blow in such several manners, and with such various and even contrary effects. Or thus, and by which way the east wind scattereth (to wit, the clouds, or other light things; for this is noted in Scripture to be a most vehement wind, and to scatter the clouds, Exo 14:21; Jon 4:8)
upon the earth, i.e. whence it comes to pass that the east wind was so violent and furious. But the words may be rendered thus, which (i.e. which light of the sun, or when it, to wit, this light) scattereth itself (as divers here render this word, that conjugation being often used reciprocally, as is confessed) from (the prefix mem being understood, as it is very frequently in the Hebrew text)
the east (for this Hebrew word doth not only signify the eastern wind, but also the east, or the eastern part of the heavens or earth, as Eze 40:19; 42:16; Hab 1:9, and in many other places; and kedem, the root of this word, is constantly so used) upon or over the earth, all over the earth. And this is justly mentioned as a wonderful work of God, that as soon as ever the sun ariseth, it parteth or scattereth its light in an instant from one end of the hemisphere to another. But this I propose with submission.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v25 Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as…
Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as were proper to convince him of his ignorance and short-sightedness. Now he comes, in the same manner, to show his impotency and weakness. As it is but little that he knows, and therefore he ought not to arraign the divine counsels, so it is but little that he can do, and therefore he ought not to oppose the proceedings of Providence. Let him consider what great things God does, and try whether he can do the like, or whether he thinks himself an equal match for him.
I. God has thunder, and lightning, and rain, and frost, at command, but Job has not, and therefore let him not dare to compare himself with God, or to contend with him. Nothing is more uncertain than what weather it shall be, nor more out of our reach to appoint; it shall be what weather pleases God, not what pleases us, unless, as becomes us, whatever pleases God pleases us. Concerning this observe here,
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1. How great God is.
(1.) He has a sovereign dominion over the waters, has appointed them their course, even then when they seem to overflow and to be from under his check, Job 38:25. He has divided a water-course, directs the rain where to fall, even when the shower is most violent, with as much certainty as if it were conveyed by canals or conduit-pipes. Thus the hearts of kings are said to be in God's hand; and as the rains, those rivers of God, he turns them whithersoever he will. Every drop goes as it is directed. God has sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more return to cover the earth; and we see that he is able to make good what he has promised, for he has the rain in a water-course.
(2.) He has dominion over the lightning and the thunder, which go not at random, but in the way that he directs them. They are mentioned here because he prepares the lightnings for the rain, Psa 135:7. Let not those that fear God be afraid of the lightning or the thunder, for they are not blind bullets, but go the way that God himself, who means no hurt to them, directs.
(3.) In directing the course of the rain he does not neglect the wilderness, the desert land (Job 38:26, Job 38:27), where no man is. [1.] Where there is no man to be employed in taking care of the productions. God's providence reaches further than man's industry. If he had not more kindness for many of the inferior creatures than man has, it would go ill with them. God can make the earth fruitful without any art or pains of ours, Gen 2:5, Gen 2:6. When there was not a man to till the ground, yet there went up a mist and watered it. But we cannot make it fruitful without God; it is he that gives the increase. [2.] Where there is no man to be provided for nor to take the benefit of the fruits that are produced. Though God does with very peculiar favour visit and regard man, yet he does not overlook the inferior creatures, but causes the bud of the tender herb to spring forth for food for all flesh, as well as for the service of man. Even the wild asses shall have their thirst quenched, Psa 104:11. God has enough for all, and wonderfully provides even for those creatures that man neither has service from nor makes provision for.
(4.) He is, in a sense, the Father of the rain, Job 38:28. It has no other father. He produces it by his power; he governs and directs it, and makes what use he pleases of it. Even the small drops of the dew he distils upon the earth, as the God of nature; and, as the God of grace, he rains righteousness upon us and is himself as the dew unto Israel. See Hos 14:5, Hos 14:6; Mic 5:7.
(5.) The ice and the frost, by which the waters are congealed and the earth incrustrated, are produced by his providence, Job 38:29, Job 38:30. These are very common things, which lessens the strangeness of them. But, considering what a vast change is made by them in a very little time, how the waters are hid as with a stone, as with a grave-stone, laid upon them (so thick, so strong, is the ice that covers them), and the face even of the deep is sometimes frozen, we may well ask, "Out of whose womb came the ice? What created power could produce such a wonderful work?" No power but that of the Creator himself. Frost and snow come from him, and therefore should lead our thoughts and meditations to him who does such great things, past finding out. And we shall the more easily bear the inconveniences of winter-weather if we learn to make this good use of it.
2. How weak man is. Can he do such things as these? Could Job? No, v. 34, 35. (1.) He cannot command one shower of rain for the relief of himself or his friends: "Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, those bottles of heaven, that abundance of waters may cover thee, to water thy fields when they are dry and parched?" If we lift up our voice to God, to pray for rain, we may have it (Zac 10:1); but if we lift up our voice to the clouds, to demand it, they will soon tell us they are not at our beck, and we shall go without it, Jer 14:22. The heavens will not her the earth unless God hear them, Hos 2:21. See what poor, indigent, depending creatures we are; we cannot do without rain, nor can we have it when we will. (2.) He cannot commission one flash of lightning, if he had a mind to make use of it for the terror of his enemies (Job 38:35): "Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go on thy errand, and do the execution thou desirest? Will they come at thy call, and say unto thee, Here we are?" No, the ministers of God's wrath will not be ministers of ours. Why should they, since the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God? See Luk 9:55.
II. God has the stars of heaven under his command and cognizance, but we have them not under ours. Our meditations are now to rise higher, far above the clouds, to the glorious lights above. God mentions particularly, not the planets, which move in lower orbs, but the fixed stars, which are much higher. It is supposed that they have an influence upon this earth, notwithstanding their vast distance, not upon the minds of men or the events of providence (men's fate is not determined by their stars), but upon the ordinary course of nature; they are set for signs and seasons, for days and years, Gen 1:14. And if the stars have such a dominion over this earth (Job 38:33), though they have their place in the heavens and are but mere matter, much more has he who is their Maker and ours, and who is an Eternal Mind. Now see how weak we are. 1. We cannot alter the influences of the stars (Job 38:31), not theirs that are instrumental to produce the pleasures of the spring: Canst thou loose the bands of Orion? - that magnificent constellation which makes so great a figure (none greater), and dispenses rough and unpleasing influences, which we cannot control nor repel. Both summer and winter will have their course. God can change them when he pleases, can make the spring cold, and so bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, and the winter warm, and so loose the bands of Orion; but we cannot. 2. It is not in our power to order the motions of the stars, nor are we entrusted with the guidance of them. God, who calls the stars by their names (Psa 147:4), calls them forth in their respective seasons, appointing them the time of their rising and setting. But this is not our province; we cannot bring forth Mazzaroth - the stars in the southern signs, nor guide Arcturus - those in the northern, Job 38:32. God can bring forth the stars to battle (as he did when in their courses they fought against Sisera) and guide them in the attacks they are ordered to make; but man cannot do so. 3. We are not only unconcerned in the government of the stars (the government they are under, and the government they are entrusted with, for they both rule and are ruled), but utterly unacquainted with it; we know not the ordinances of heaven, Job 38:33. So far are we from being able to change them that we can give no account of them; they are a secret to us. Shall we then pretend to know God's counsels, and the reasons of them? If it were left to us to set the dominion of the stars upon the earth, we should soon be at a loss. Shall we then teach God how to govern the world?
III. God is the author and giver, the father and fountain, of all wisdom and understanding, Job 38:36. The souls of men are nobler and more excellent beings than the stars of heaven themselves, and shine more brightly. The powers and faculties of reason with which man is endued, and the wonderful performances of thought, bring him into some alliance to the blessed angels; and whence comes this light, but from the Father of lights? Who else has put wisdom into the inner parts of man, and given understanding to the heart? 1. The rational soul itself, and its capacities, come from him as the God of nature; for he forms the spirit of man within him. We did not make our own souls, nor can we describe how they act, nor how they are united to our bodies. He only that made them knows them, and knows how to manage them. He fashioneth men's hearts alike in some things, and yet unlike in others. 2. True wisdom, with its furniture and improvement, comes from him as the God of grace and the Father of every good and perfect gift. Shall we pretend to be wiser than God, when we have all our wisdom from him? Nay, shall we pretend to be wise above our sphere, and beyond the limits which he that gave us our understanding sets to it? He designed we should with it serve God and do our duty, but never intended we should with it set up for directors of the stars or the lightning.
IV. God has the clouds under his cognizance and government, but so have not we, Job 38:37. Can any man, with all his wisdom, undertake to number the clouds, or (as it may be read) to declare and describe the nature of them? Though they are near us, in our own atmosphere, yet we know little more of them than of the stars which are at so great a distance. And when the clouds have poured down rain in abundance, so that the dust grows into solid mire and the clods cleave fast together (Job 38:38), who can stay the bottles of heaven? Who can stop them, that it may not always rain? The power and goodness of God are herein to be acknowledged, that he gives the earth rain enough, but does not surfeit it, softens it, but does not drown it, makes it fit for the plough, but not unfit for the seed. As we cannot command a shower of rain, so we cannot command a fair day, without God; so necessary, so constant, is our dependence upon him.
V. God provides food for the inferior creatures, and it is by his providence, not by any care or pains of ours, that they are fed. The following chapter is wholly taken up with the instances of God's power and goodness about animals, and therefore some transfer to it the last three verses of this chapter, which speak of the provision made, 1. For the lions, Job 38:39, Job 38:40. "Thou dost not pretend that the clouds and stars have any dependence upon thee, for they are above thee; but on the earth thou thinkest thyself paramount; let us try that then: Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? Thou valuest thyself upon thy possessions of cattle which thou wast once owner of, the oxen, and asses, and camels, that were fed at thy crib; but wilt thou undertake the maintenance of the lions, and the young lions, when they couch in their dens, waiting for a prey? No, needest not do it, they can shift for themselves without thee: thou canst not do it, for thou hast not wherewithal to satisfy them: thou darest not do it; shouldst thou come to feed them, they would seize upon thee. But I do it." See the all-sufficiency of the divine providence: it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living thing, even the most ravenous. See the bounty of the divine Providence, that, wherever it has given life, it will give livelihood, even to those creatures that are not only not serviceable, but dangerous, to man. And see its sovereignty, that it suffers some creatures to be killed for the support of other creatures. The harmless sheep are torn to pieces, to fill the appetite of the young lions, who yet sometimes are made to lack and suffer hunger, to punish them for their cruelty, while those that fear God want no good thing. 2. For the young ravens, Job 38:41. As ravenous beasts, so ravenous birds, are fed by the divine Providence. Who but God provides for the raven his food? Man does not; he takes care only of those creatures that are, or may be, useful to him. But God has a regard to all the works of his hands, even the meanest and least valuable. The ravens' young ones are in a special manner necessitous, and God supplies them, Psa 147:9. God's feeding the fowls, especially these fowls (Mat 6:26), is an encouragement to us to trust him for our daily bread. See here, (1.) What distress the young ravens are often in: They wander for lack of meat. The old ones, they say, neglect them, and do not provide for them as other birds do for their young: and indeed those that are ravenous to others are commonly barbarous to their own, and unnatural. (2.) What they are supposed to do in that distress: They cry, for they are noisy clamorous creatures, and this is interpreted as crying to God. It being the cry of nature, it is looked upon as directed to the God of nature. The putting of so favourable a construction as this upon the cries of the young ravens may encourage us in our prayers, though we can but cry, Abba, Father. (3.) What God does for them. Some way or other he provides for them, so that they grow up, and come to maturity. And he that takes this care of the young ravens certainly will not be wanting to his people or theirs. This, being but one instance of many of the divine compassion, may give us occasion to think how much good our God does, every day, beyond what we are aware of.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv24–29 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of…
Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters,.... For a very large shower of rain, as the Vulgate Latin version: for this is not to be understood of an aqueduct, channel, or canal made on earth, either for the draining of waters off of land overflowed thereby, or for the conveyance of it to different parts to overflow it; such as were cut out of the Nile in Egypt, for the overflowing of the land, to make it fruitful; such may be and have been made by men: but of a watercourse in the air or atmosphere, as a canal or channel, for the rain to come down upon the earth; and this is the work of God, and him only, who directs and steers the course of rain, that it falls regularly and gently, not in spouts and floods, but in drops larger or lesser, on what spot of ground, or part of the earth, he pleases: and if what Jarchi says true, that every drop has its course, its canal, through which it passes, it is still more wonderful;
or a way for the lightning of thunder: which generally go together, and are of God. His fire and voice, and for which he makes a way, by which they burst and break forth out of the cloud, and their course is directed by him under the whole heavens; see Job 28:26. So the Gospel, compared to rain and lightning, has its direction and its course steered to what part of the world, he pleases; see Psa 19:4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv24–28 Distributed - In the air, and upon the face…
Distributed - In the air, and upon the face of the earth. This is variously distributed in the world, shining in one place and time, when it doth not shine in another, or for a longer time, or with greater brightness and power than it doth in another. All which are the effects of God's infinite wisdom and power, and such as were out of Job's reach to understand. Which - Which light scattereth, raises the east-wind, and causes it to blow hither and thither upon the earth? For as the sun is called by the poets, the father of the winds, because he draws up those exhalations which give matter to the winds, so in particular the east-wind is often observed to rise together with the sun.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv24–29 Verse 24. By what way is the light parted]…
Verse 24. By what way is the light parted] Who can accurately describe the cause and operation of a thunder cloud, the cause, nature, and mode of operation of the lightning itself? Is it a simple element or compound substance? What is its velocity? and why not conductible by every kind of substance, as it is known to exist in all, and, indeed, to be diffused through every portion of nature? How is it parted? How does it take its zigzag form? this is the curious, indescribable, and unknown parting. Are all the causes of positive and negative electricity found out? What are its particles, and how do they cohere, and in what order are they propagated? Much has been said on all these points, and how little of that much satisfactorily!
Scattereth the east wind upon the earth?] קדים kadim, the eastern storm, euroclydon, or levanter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv24, 25, 26, 28 Job 38:24. By what way is the light parted…
Job 38:24. By what way is the light parted — Or dispersed, or distributed, namely, in the air, or upon the face of the earth. This is variously distributed in the world, shining in one place and time, when it doth not shine in another, or for a longer time, or with greater brightness and power than it doth in another; all which are the effects of God’s infinite wisdom and power, and such as were out of Job’s reach to understand. Which scattereth the east wind — Which light scattereth, or raises the east wind, and causes it to blow hither and thither upon the earth? For as the sun is called by the poets, the father of the winds, because he rarefies the atmosphere by his heat, or condenses it by drawing up and loading it with vapours, and thereby destroys the equilibrium of it which produces winds; so, in particular, the east wind is often observed to rise together with the sun. But as there is no Hebrew for which, the words יפצ קדים, japhetz kadim, would, perhaps, be better translated, By what way does the east wind scatter itself? continuing the interrogation, and making this a distinct question. That is, whence do the winds come, and whither do they go? And how comes it to pass, that they blow in so many manners, and with such various and contrary effects?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv24–29 By what way is the light parted - The…
By what way is the light parted - The reference here is to the light of the morning, that seems to come from one point, and to spread itself at once over the whole earth. It seems to be collected in the east, or, as it were, condensed or concentrated there, and then to divide itself, and to expand over the face of the world. God here asks Job whether he could explain this, or show in what manner it was done. This was one of the subjects which might be supposed early to excite inquiry, and is one which can be as little explained now as then. The causes of the propagation of light, which seems to proceed from a center and to spread rapidly in every direction, are perhaps as little known now as they were in the time of Job. Philosophy has done little to explain this, and the mode in which light is made to travel in eight minutes from the sun to the earth - a distance of ninety million miles - and the manner in which it is “divided” or “parted” from that great center, and spread over the solar system, is as much of a real mystery as it was in the days of Job, and the question proposed here may be asked now with as much emphasis as it was then.
Which scattereth the east wind upon the earth - According to this translation, the idea would be that somehow light is the cause of the east wind. But it may be doubted whether this is the true interpretation, and whether it is meant to be affirmed that light has any agency in causing the wind to blow. Herder renders it:
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“When doth the light divide itself,
When the east wind streweth it upon the earth?”
According to this, the idea would be that the light of the morning seemed to be borne along by the wind. Umbreit renders it, “Where is the way upon which the east wind flows forth upon the earth?” That is, the east wind, like the light, comes from a certain point, and seems to spread abroad over the world; and the question is, whether Job could explain this? This interpretation is adopted by Rosenmuller and Noyes, and seems to be demanded by the parallelism, and by the nature of the case. The cause of the rapid spreading of the wind from a certain point of the compass, was involved in as much obscurity as the propagation of the light, nor is that cause much better understood now. There is no reason to suppose that the spread of the light, has any particular agency in causing the east wind, as our common version seems to suppose, nor is that idea necessarily in the Hebrew text. The east wind is mentioned here either because the light comes from the east, and the wind from that quarter was more naturally suggested than any other, or because the east wind was remarkable for its violence. The idea that a strong east wind was somehow connected with the dawn of day or the rising of the sun, was one that prevailed, at least to some extent, among the ancients. Thus, Catullus (lxiv. 270ff) says:
Hic qualis flatu placidum mare matutino
Horrificans zephyrus proclivas incitat undas
Aurora exoriente, vagi sub lumina solis.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Heat. Hebrew kadim, (Haydock) the "east." Septuagint, "south wind."…
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Heat. Hebrew kadim, (Haydock) the "east." Septuagint, "south wind." Perhaps the east winds produced the same bad effects in Egypt, as the south wind did in Judea; (Calmet) or this noxious burning wind might proceed from the south-eastern point of both countries. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv24–29 is . . . parted--parts, so as to diffuse…
is . . . parted--parts, so as to diffuse itself over the whole earth, though seeming to come from one point. Light travels from the sun to the earth, ninety millions of miles, in eight minutes.
which scattereth--rather, "And by what way the east wind (personified) spreads (scattereth) itself." The light and east wind are associated together, as both come from one quarter, and often arise together (Jon 4:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv24–28 24. By what way, etc. — What is the…
24. By what way, etc. — What is the way that light divides itself? (Dillmann and Hitzig.) Which scattereth, etc. — [How] does the east wind scatter itself over the earth? The east wind, for diffusiveness and destructiveness corresponding to the Eurus of the classics, is here used representatively. It was an east wind that was summoned to hurl the wicked man out of his place, (Job_27:21, on which see note,) and an east wind also which broke the ships of Tarshish. Psa_48:7. The reason that light and the east wind are mentioned together may be that they both take their rise in the same quarter of the sky, or because of the extreme heat associated with each.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv24, 25, 26, 28, 29 24. The verse seems to mean:
24. The verse seems to mean:
Which is the way to where the light is parted,
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And the east wind spreadeth over the earth?
The phrase in clause first is the same as in Job_38:19. The words may mean by which way, or road, is light parted? The “light” was already referred to in Job_38:19, and some consider the word to mean lightning here. This, however, comes from above and is spoken of in Job_38:25. More probably the reference is to the wonderful diffusion of light over the whole earth, and the query concerns the way or path by which this takes place. Such a path appears to lie in the East, from whence also the stormy wind spreads over the earth; hence the two are brought into connexion. Job, of course, knows the way along which this diffusion of light and wind takes place.
24–27. The stormy wind, rain and lightning.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–26 (24) By what way is the light parted?—i.e., distributed…
(24) By what way is the light parted?—i.e., distributed in turn to all the inhabitants of the earth.
The east wind.—As naturally suggested by the origin of light and the mention of it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv24–29 By what way is the light parted? or, distributed,…
By what way is the light parted? or, distributed, so as to be enjoyed by all the inhabitants of the earth (Stanley Loathes). Which scattereth, etc.; rather, or by what way is the east wind scattered over the earth? (see the Revised Version) Job is asked to explain God"s modus operandi in nature, which, of course, he cannot do. Hence his answer in Job_40:5.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv25, 28 To cause it to rain on the earth.
Job_38:25-27
To cause it to rain on the earth.
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Rain and grace-a comparison
We shall work out a parallel between grace and rain.
I. God alone giveth rain and the same is true of grace. We say of rain and of grace,--God is the sole author of it. He devised and prepared the channel by which it comes to earth. He hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters. The Lord makes a way for grace to reach His people. He directs each drop, and gives each blade of grass its own drop of dew,--to every believer his portion of grace. He moderates the force, so that it does not beat down or drown the tender herb. Grace comes in its own gentle way. Conviction, enlightenment, etc., are sent in due measure. He holds it in His power. Absolutely at His own will does God bestow either rain for the earth, or grace for the soul.
II. Rain falls irrespective of men and so does grace. Grace waits not mans observation. As the rain falls where no man is, so grace courts not publicity. Nor his cooperation. It tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men (Mic_5:7). Nor his prayers. Grass calls not for rain, yet it comes. I am found of them that sought Me not (Isa_65:1). Nor his merits. Rain falls on the waste ground.
III. Rain falls where we might least have expected it. It falls where there is no trace of former showers, even upon the desolate wilderness; so does grace enter hearts which had hitherto been unblest, where great need was the only plea which rose to heaven (Isa_35:7). It falls where there seems nothing to repay the boon. Many hearts are naturally as barren as the desert (Isa_35:6). It falls where the need seems insatiable; to satisfy the desolate. Some cases seem to demand an ocean of grace; but the Lord meets the need; and His grace falls where the joy and glory are all directed to God by grateful hearts. Twice we are told that the rain falls where no man is. When conversion is wrought of the Lord, no man is seen: the Lord alone is exalted.
IV. This rain is most valued by life.
1. The rain gives joy to seeds and plants in which there is life. Budding life knows of it; the tenderest herb rejoices in it; so is it with those who begin to repent, who feebly believe, and thus are just alive.
2. The rain causes development. Grace also perfects grace. Buds of hope grow into strong faith. Buds of feeling expand into love. Buds of desire rise to resolve. Buds of confession come to open avowal. Buds of usefulness swell into fruit.
3. The rain causes health and vigour of life. Is it not so with grace?
4. The rain creates the flower with its colour and perfume, and God is pleased. The full outgrowth of renewed nature cometh of grace, and the Lord is well pleased therewith. Application--Let us acknowledge the sovereignty of God as to grace. Let us cry to Him for grace. Let us expect Him to send it though we may feel sadly barren, and quite out of the way of the usual means of grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Wherein there is so man.--
Fertility of uninhabited part of the earth
A distinguished naturalist, who is a Fellow of the Royal Society, describes how such a mistaken idea was corrected in his experience. Once he was pushing his way through a dense and tangled thicket in a lone and lofty region of Jamaica. Suddenly he came upon the most magnificent terrestrial orchid, in full bloom, which he had ever seen. It was a noble plant, crowned with the pyramidal spike of lily-like flowers, whose expanding petals seemed to his ravished gaze the very perfection of beauty. Then he began to reflect how long that exquisite plant had been growing in a wild, unvisited spot, every season filling the air around with its glory, and yet it could never have met a human gaze before. To what purpose is this waste? he asks himself. But ere long the true reply entered his mind. Speak not of waste! Can man alone admire beauty? Can man alone exult in it? Surely the eye of the Lord rests with delight on the perfect work of His hands, on the apt expression of His own sublime thought!
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v28 God’s Majesty in the Wonders above the Earth
God’s Majesty in the Wonders above the Earth
v. 28. Hath the rain a father, as it drops down from the clouds of the sky? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew, which assemble from the vapor of the atmosphere above, and are therefore also brought into direct relation to God?
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v. 29. Out of whose womb came the ice? A mother is assumed here because ice is associated with the earth. And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
v. 30. The waters are hid as with a stone, drawing themselves together in a rigid mass as the frost takes hold of them, and the face of the deep is frozen, hanging together in a solid mass.
v. 31. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, the band of that constellation of springtime, in the larger constellation of Taurus, or loose the bands of Orion, the cords which hold this constellation to its place in the heavens, causing the stars to fall to the ground?
v. 32. Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth, a very bright constellation, in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus, the Great Bear of the northern sky, with his sons?
v. 33. Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven, the laws which guide the stars in their courses? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Did Job possess the authority and power to regulate the influence of the heavens and their stars upon earthly destinies?
v. 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, in commanding them to yield their moisture, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
v. 35. Canst thou send lightnings that they may go, at the command of Job, and say unto thee, Here we are, namely, at his disposal, ready to do his bidding?
v. 36. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts, teaching the dark clouds how to perform their work in the world? Or who hath given understanding to the heart, to the creatures of the atmosphere, so that the clouds know their arrangement in the various circumstances?
v. 37. Who can number the clouds in wisdom, appointing to them their number and extent? Or who can stay the bottles of heaven, who tilts them, who pours out their liquid contents,
v. 38. when the dust groweth into hardness, becoming a firm mass as in the rain-water molds its particles together, and the clods cleave fast together, caking into a hard mass? In all these things God is supreme, all the forces of the atmosphere and of the sky being subject to Him, by whose laws they are guided. The insignificance of man stands out all the more strongly by contrast.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv25, 28 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues to challenge Job.
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General Information:
Yahweh questions Job to emphasize that he causes it to rain and thunder and Job does not. (See: Rhetorical Question)
Who has created the channels for the floods of rain, or who has made ... sprout with grass?
This can be translated as a statement. AT: "Only I have created the channels for the floods of rain, and only I have made ... grass sprout up." (See: Rhetorical Question)
the floods of rain
"the torrents of rain"
a path for the thunder
"a way for the rumble of thunder to be heard."
on lands where no person exists, and on the wilderness, in which there is no one
These two phrases have nearly the same meaning. (See: Parallelism)
where no person exists
"where there are no people"
to satisfy
The implied information is that it is the rain that meets the needs of the land to grow grass. AT: "so that the rain can satisfy the needs of" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
devastated and desolate
"ruined and wasted." These two words have nearly the same meaning and emphasize the ruined and empty nature of these regions. (See: Hendiadys)
with grass
"the new grass" or "the fresh grass." This is grass that is just starting to grow.
make the ground sprout with
"make the ground support new grass"
translationWords
create
flood
desert
barren
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v24 38:24-27 The east wind blows off the desert to…
38:24-27 The east wind blows off the desert to scorch crops (Gen 41:6, 23, 27; Jer 4:11; Jon 4:8) and dry up seas (Exod 14:21; Isa 11:15). It is an arid contrast to the torrents of rain that cause flooding. • Beneficial rain to satisfy the parched ground (Pss 104:10-11; 107:35; Isa 35:7; 58:11) stands in contrast to both scorching winds (Job 38:24) and flooding rains (38:25).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.