“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?
Parallel Translations
-
“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you?
-
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
-
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Job 38:34 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 22:11 or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you.
- 1 Samuel 12:18 So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.
- Job 36:27-28 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.
- Amos 5:8 seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name,
- Zechariah 10:1 Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.
- James 5:18 He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 38:34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to…
Job 38:34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
Ver. 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds?] Thy commanding voice, as Num 9:23. Some render it, Thy thunder. Will the clouds obey thee, and rain upon thee at thy pleasure? Something thou mayest get by thy prayers, as Elias did, Jas 5:17, and the thundering legion in the ecclesiastical history, but nothing by command or compulsion. The monarch of Mexico is a mad man to take an oath at his coronation, that it shall be what weather soever he pleaseth all the time of his reign (Lopez de Gomara).
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 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds;…
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds; either thundering in them, or calling to them with a loud voice, commanding them to rain?
May cover thee, i.e. thy land, when it needs and requires rain.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Who can number the clouds in wisdom?.... Or has…
Who can number the clouds in wisdom?.... Or has such wisdom as to be able to count them when the heavens are full of them; hence they are used to denote a great multitude, Isa 55:8; or "declare" them (t), set forth and explain the nature of them, their matter, motion, and use; none can do this perfectly or completely. Aben Ezra interprets it, who can make them as sapphire? in which he is followed by Mr. Broughton and others (u); the sapphire is a precious stone, very clear and lucid, of a sky colour. And then the sense is, who can make a clear and serene sky, when it is cloudy? None but the Lord; see Job 37:11;
or who can stay the bottles of heaven? or "barrels", as Mr. Broughton; the clouds in which the rain is bottled or barrelled up; and when it is the pleasure of God to pour them out, who can stay, stop, or restrain them? or who can "cause them to lie down" (w)? that is, on the earth; to descend or "distil" on it, as the same translator. Who can do this, when it is the will of God to withhold them? To stop or unstop, those bottles, to restrain rain, or pour it forth, is entirely at his dispose, and not man's; see Job 38:34.
Read full note →
(t) "enarrabit", V. L. "vel explicabit", Mercerus, Schmidt. (u) Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vid. Ravii Orthograph. Ebr. p. 22. (w) "cubare faciet", Drusius, Schmidt; "quiescere", Montanus; "descendere", Pagninus, so Aben Ezra; "effundit humi", Schultens.
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 Cover thee - Thy land when it needs rain.
Cover thee - Thy land when it needs rain.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to…
Verse 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds] Canst thou produce lightning and thunder, that water may be formed, and poured down upon the earth?
Thunder is called קלות koloth, voices; for it is considered the voice of God: here then Job's voice, קולך kolecha, is opposed to the voice of JEHOVAH!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 38:34-35. Canst thou lift up thy voice to…
Job 38:34-35. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds? — Either thundering in them, or calling to them with a loud voice, and commanding them to rain. That abundance of waters may cover thee? — That is, may cover thy land, when it needs and requires rain. Canst thou send lightnings that they may go? — At thy pleasure, and upon thy errand? and say, Here we are? — Ready to do thy will, as servants to obey their master. “Nothing can be more elevated and sublime than this verse. How strong the image! How simple the expression! We read of winged lightnings in the heathen poets; but where do they live, and act, and speak, and wait for orders with impatience as here?” See Peters and Dodd.
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 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,…
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? - That is, canst thou command the clouds so that they shall send down abundant rain? Bouillier supposes that there is an allusion here to the incantations which were pretended to be practiced by the Magi, by which they claimed the power of producing rain at pleasure; compare Jer 14:22, “Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles (the idols that they worship) that can cause rain? Art not thou he, O Lord our God?” The idea is, that it is God only who can cause rain, and that the control of the clouds from which rain descends is wholly beyond the reach of man.
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 Voice, to mimic the thunder of God, (Calmet) or…
Voice, to mimic the thunder of God, (Calmet) or to order it to rain. (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 job 38:34Jer 14:22; above Job 22:11, metaphorically.
job 38:34Jer 14:22; above Job 22:11, metaphorically.
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 γ. Maybe Job can legislate for the firmament by…
γ. Maybe Job can legislate for the firmament by wielding the thunder, draw down and empty the cloud, or by a word give life to the lightnings, that they may fulfil his behests, Job_38:34-35.
34. Thy voice to the clouds — Not a rain-drop can the human voice call from the sky, and yet abundance of rain is essential to the weal of our race.
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 34, 35. For canst thou it is better, as…
34, 35. For canst thou it is better, as before, to read, dost thou?
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,…
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of water may sever thee? Will the clouds take their orders from thee, listen to thee, obey thy voice? None but the "medicine-men" of savage tribes profess to have any such power. Elijah, indeed, "prayed, and the heaven gave rain"; (Jam_5:18) but this was a very different thing from "commanding the clouds of heaven." His prayer was addressed to God, and God gave the rain for which he made his petition.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues to challenge Job.
Read full note →
General Information:
Yahweh uses two questions to emphasize to Job that he rules the rain clouds and lightning and Job does not. (See: Rhetorical Question)
Can you raise ... 'Here we are'?
These can be translated as statements. AT: "Tell me if you can raise your voice up to the clouds, so that an abundance of rainwater may cover you. Tell me if you can send out bolts of lightning that they may go out, that they say to you, 'Here we are!'" (See: Rhetorical Question)
an abundance of rainwater
The abstract noun "abundance" can be translated as the adjective "abundant." AT: "an abundant amount of rainwater" or "a flood of waters" (See: Abstract Nouns)
Here we are
This pictures the lightning bolts as servants saying they are ready to follow commands. (See: Personification)
translationWords
raise
voice
send
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.