42:6. The Lord answers Job out of the Storm We are now to witness the last act of the drama. And to understand it we have to go back to the starting-point and recall the idea of the Poem. This idea is expressed in the question, _Doth Job serve God for nought_? Or, as otherwise put, the idea is, _Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_out of the whirlwind_ Rather, OUT OF THE STORM. Jehovah, even when condescending to speak with men, must veil Himself in the storm cloud, in which He descends and approaches the earth. Even when He is nearest us, clouds and darkness are round about Him. His revelation of Himself to Job, at least, w... [ Continue Reading ]
_who is this that darkeneth counsel_ lit. _who then is darkening counsel_? The word _then_merely adds the emphasis of impatience or astonishment to the question, _who_…? The expression _counsel_suggests that the Lord had a plan or meaning in Job's afflictions, which the perverse and ignorant constru... [ Continue Reading ]
_for I will demand_ Rather, AND I will. Jehovah now invites Job to prepare for that contention with Him which he had so often desired, Job 9:35; Job 13:10 _seq_.; and as Job had said, "Then call thou and I will answer, or let me speak and answer thou me" (ch. Job 13:22), Jehovah, as becomes Him, cho... [ Continue Reading ]
Was Job present, possibly taking part in the operation, when Jehovah laid the foundations of the earth? Let him then "declare" how all was done. The word _declare_of course refers to the queries in Job 38:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
Earth and sea.... [ Continue Reading ]
A survey of the inanimate creation, the wonders of earth and sky the earth, Job 38:4; the heavens, Job 38:18... [ Continue Reading ]
_if thou knowest_ Rather, THAT THOU SHOULDEST KNOW. Job knew well who laid (rather, FIXED) the measures of the earth, but the point of the question is, Was he present to see who fixed them and how they were fixed, so as to be able to speak with knowledge?... [ Continue Reading ]
_are the foundations fastened_ Or, WERE THE FOUNDATIONS SUNK? All the _tenses_here should be put in the simple past. The creation of the earth is likened to the rearing of a great edifice, whose extent was determined by line, whose pillars were sunk in their bases, and its corner-stone laid with sh... [ Continue Reading ]
_as if it had issued_ Rather, AND ISSUED out of the womb.... [ Continue Reading ]
The sea.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thick darkness_ Or, AND THE THICK CLOUD.... [ Continue Reading ]
_brake up for it my decreed place_ Rather, AND BRAKE FOR IT MY BOUND, i. e. set it my appointed boundary. The expression "brake" may refer to the deep and abrupt precipices which mark the coast line in many places. The figures in these verses are very splendid. First, the ocean is represented as an... [ Continue Reading ]
_since thy days_ i. e. since thou wast born, all thy life. The question, naturally, implies the other query, whether Job be coeval with the dawn? _the dayspring_ i. e. the dawn.... [ Continue Reading ]
The dawn that daily overspreads the earth.... [ Continue Reading ]
_ends of the earth_ lit. _skirts_or _wings_of the earth. The figure is beautiful; the dawn as it pours forth along the whole horizon, on both sides of the beholder, lays hold of the borders of the earth, over which night lay like a covering; and seizing this covering by its extremities it shakes the... [ Continue Reading ]
Another charming figure. Under the light of morn the earth, which was formless in the darkness, takes shape like the clay under the seal. It is changed as clay under the seal, And they stand forth as a garment. In the first clause the words are lit. _as seal-clay_. All things with clear-cut impre... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall be broken_ Rather, IS BROKEN. The "light" of the wicked is the darkness, ch. Job 24:17. The "high arm" is the arm already uplifted to commit violence. Again the moral meaning of the dayspring is expressed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_hast thou entered_ Perhaps, DIDST THOU ENTER? The whole passage seems under the influence of the first question, Job 38:4, Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Did Job then explore the abysses of the deep, and enter the gates of the underworld? Did he then survey all parts of t... [ Continue Reading ]
The deep and the underworld.... [ Continue Reading ]
_have the gates of death_ Or, WERE the gates? Death is personified; it is Sheol, the place of the dead, ch. Job 28:22. This is a lower deep than the recesses of the sea; Job, no doubt, went down there also. _hast thou seen_ Or, DIDST THOU SEE?... [ Continue Reading ]
Final query, Whether Job surveyed the whole earth, and comprehended its breadth. _hast thou perceived_ Rather perhaps, DIDST THOU COMPREHEND?... [ Continue Reading ]
The wonders of the heavens.... [ Continue Reading ]
The first clause reads, What is the way to where light dwelleth? Light and darkness are here regarded as things independent of one another; they are both real agents, each of which has its place or abode, from which it streams forth over the earth, and to which it is again taken back (Job 38:20).... [ Continue Reading ]
Light and darkness.... [ Continue Reading ]
_take it to the bound thereof_ The second clause, the path _to_its house, suggests that the _bound_or border of light is not the furthest limit _to_which it flows forth, but its own place of abode, the bound between it and darkness, _from_which it issues. Job is asked if he knows the way to the dwel... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is ironical, Thou knowest; for thou wast then born, And the number of thy days is great. The words "thou knowest" refer to the question, Job 38:19, Which is the way …? Job knows the way to the place of light, for he was born contemporary with it; he is as old as the dayspring which morn... [ Continue Reading ]
_the treasures_ That is, the treasuries, the magazines. Snow and hail are represented as having been created and laid up in great storehouses in the heavens or above them, from whence God draws them forth for the moral ends of His government (Job 38:23). The idea may be suggested by observation of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Snow and hail.... [ Continue Reading ]
Compare such passages as Joshua 10:11; Psalms 68:14; Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 13:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse seems to mean: Which is the way to where the light is parted, 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 con... [ Continue Reading ]
The stormy wind, rain and lightning.... [ Continue Reading ]
_for the overflowing of waters_ Rather, FOR THE RAIN-FLOOD. The second clause indicates that by the "watercourse" is meant the conduit (Isaiah 7:3) or channel cut through the arch of the heavens, down which the rain-flood pours to the earth. In like manner the lightning follows a track or path prepa... [ Continue Reading ]
Man is not, as he might think, the only object of God's regard. God is great and His providence very wide. His goodness is over all His works. He satisfies with rain the thirsty wilderness where no man is, that the tender grass may be refreshed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rain, dew, frost and ice.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the rain a father_ That is, a human father; does any man, Job perhaps, beget the rain or the drops of dew? They are marvels of God's creative power.... [ Continue Reading ]
_who hath gendered it_ Rather, BROUGHT IT FORTH, or borne it (Isaiah 49:21), as the parallelism of the first clause requires.... [ Continue Reading ]
_as with a stone_ lit. _the waters hide themselves like a stone_, that is, becoming like stone. _is frozen_ lit. _cleaveth together_. The phenomenon of ice, rare in the East, naturally appeared wonderful.... [ Continue Reading ]
_canst thou bind_ Rather, DOST thou bind? The questions addressed to Job, throughout the chapter, mean in general, Is it he that effects what is observed to be done? not, Can he undo what is done, or do what is not done? Hence the questions here imply that the Pleiades _are_bound and that Orion is l... [ Continue Reading ]
The direction of the regular movements of the heavens, and their influence upon the earth.... [ Continue Reading ]
_canst thou bring forth_ Rather, DOST THOU …? and similarly, DOST THOU GUIDE? The meaning of _Mazzaroth_is uncertain. The word has been supposed to be another form of _Mazzaloth_, 2 Kings 23:5, which is thought to mean the signs of the Zodiac. The connexion as well as the parallelism of the next cla... [ Continue Reading ]
_canst thou set_ Rather, as before, DOST THOU SET? The idea is that the heavens and the stars exercise an influence over the earth and the destinies of man.... [ Continue Reading ]
For _canst thou_it is better, as before, to read, DOST THOU?... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is obscure, owing to the terms "inward parts" and "heart" being of uncertain meaning. The translation of the A.V. may be certainly set aside, (1) because the introduction of a reference to the "inward parts" and "heart" of man in the middle of a description of celestial phenomena is not to... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse carries on the thought of the preceding. _who can number_ Or, WHO NUMBERETH IN WISDOM? Who musters or counts off the clouds, that they be sufficient and not in excess for the purpose required of them? The second clause means, Or who poureth out the bottles of the heavens?... [ Continue Reading ]
The lion. _wilt thou hunt_ Rather, DOST THOU HUNT THE PREY FOR THE LIONESS? That the lioness is enabled to catch her prey is due to some power which brings it into her hand. Is it Job, perhaps, that finds it for her?... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 38:39 Ch. Job 39:30. The manifoldness of the Divine Mind as displayed in the world of animal life The instances chosen are the lion and the raven (Job 38:39); the wild goats and the hinds (ch. Job 39:1-4); the wild ass (Job 38:5; the wild ox (Job 38:9); the ostrich (Job 38:13); the war horse (J... [ Continue Reading ]
The raven. The question extends to the end of the verse, Who provideth for the raven his food, When his young ones cry unto God, And wander without meat? The raven is one of the commonest birds in Palestine; by its incessant croaking it presses itself upon the attention, and is often alluded to... [ Continue Reading ]