Job 38:30

_THE WATERS ARE HID AS WITH A STONE, AND THE FACE OF THE DEEP IS FROZEN._ The unfrozen waters are hidden under the frozen, as with a covering of stone. FROZEN - literally, is taken: the particles х_ YITLAKAADUW_ (H3920), from _ LAAKAD_ (H3920), to take hold] take hold of one another so as to cohere....

25-41 Hitherto God had put questions to Job to show him his ignorance; now God shows his weakness. As it is but little that he knows, he ought not to arraign the Divine counsels; it is but little he can do, therefore he ought not to oppose the ways of Providence. See the all-sufficiency of the Divine Providence; it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living thing. And he that takes care of the young ravens, certainly will not be wanting to his people. This being but one instance of the Divine compassion out of many, gives us occasion to think how much good our God does, every day, beyond what we are aware of. Every view we take of his infinite perfections, should remind us of his right to our love, the evil of sinning against him, and our need of his mercy and salvation....

Verse Job 38:30. _THE WATERS ARE HID AS_ WITH _A STONE_] Here is a reference to _freezing_ in the winter, as we may learn from some of the constellations mentioned below, which arise above our horizon, in the winter months. The word יתחבאו _yithchabbau_ is understood by the versions in general as implying _hardening_ or _congelation_; and we know in some intense frosts the ice becomes as _hard as a stone_; and even the _face of the deep_-the very _seas_ themselves, not only in the polar circles, but even in northern countries, _Norway, Sweden, Denmark,_ _Holland_, and parts of _Germany_, are really frozen, and locked up from all the purposes of navigation for several months in winter....

THE WATERS ARE HID AS WITH A STONE - The solid ice is laid as a stone upon them, wholly concealing them from view. AND THE FACE OF THE DEEP IS FROZEN - Margin, “taken.” The idea is, they seem to take hold of one another (יתלכדוּ _yitlâkadû_); they hold together, or cohere. The formation of ice is thus appealed to as a proof of the wisdom of God, and as a thing which Job could not explain. No man could produce this effect; nor could Job explain how it was done....

CLOSE OF THE CONTROVERSY BY THE INTERFERENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY. EXPOSITION The discourse, by which the Almighty answers Job and rebukes his "friends," occupies four chapters (ch. 38-41.). It is broken into two parts by the interposition of a-short confession on Job's part (Job 40:3). Job 38:1 and Job 39:1 are closely connected, and form a single appeal—a sort of _argumentum ad verecundiam—_to_ _Job's profound ignorance of God's natural government, which incapacitates him from passing judgment upon what is far more incomprehensible and myste

THE WATERS ARE HID AS [WITH] A STONE,.... The surface of the waters by frost become as hard as a stone, and will bear great burdens, and admit of carriages to pass over them c where ships went before; so that the waters under them are hid and quite out of sight: an emblem of the hard heart of man, which can only be thawed by the power and grace of God, by the south wind of the Spirit blowing, and the "sun of righteousness" rising on it; AND THE FACE OF THE DEEP IS FROZEN; or bound together by the frost, as the Targum; it is taken, laid hold on, and kept together, as the word signifies, so that it cannot flow. Historians speak of seas being frozen up, as some parts of the Scythian sea, reported by Mela d, and the Cimmerian Bosphorus, by Herodotus e, and the northern seas by Olaus Magnus f; as that men might travel over them on foot or on horseback, from one country to another; and Strabo...

V. THE LORD'S TESTIMONY TO JOB AND CONTROVERSY WITH HIM CHAPTER 38:1-38 _ 1. The Lord speaks to Job (Job 38:1)_ 2. The questions of the Lord (Job 38:4) Job 38:1. The voice of man is hushed; the voice of the Lord begins to speak. The Almighty, the Creator, the Lord of All comes now upon the scene. He too, like Elihu, had been the silent listener; He heard Job's complaint and wailing and the babblings of his friends. Elihu's wonderful utterance, inspired by the Lord, was ended. The thunderstorm is on, no doubt a literal storm, the dark clouds gather-- _ Then from the North there comes a golden light._ God appears in wondrous Majesty ...

THE WONDERS OF THE INANIMATE CREATION. Where was Job when the earth was made? The work of creation is described as the building of a house. In Job 38:7 the stars, which are older than the world (contrast Genesis 1:16), are thought of as animated beings: the sons of God are the angels. The morning stars and the angels then composed the choir at the laying of earth's foundation-stone; the stone-laying, therefore, took place in the morning. JOB 38:8 speaks of the taming of the sea: when it burst forth from the womb of chaos, God clothed the newborn child with the cloud and swaddled it with thick cloud. In Job 38:10 read as _mg._ and brake for it

A survey of the inanimate creation, the wonders of earth and sky the earth, Job 38:4; the heavens, Job 38:18...

THE WATERS ARE HID AS WITH A STONE— _How do the waters harden like a stone? and the face of the waters, how is it congealed?_ Houb....