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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 36:27

He maketh small the drops of water - This appears simply to refer to evaporation, and perhaps it would be better to translate יגרע yegara , "he exhales;" detaches the smallest particles of the aqueous mass from the surface in order to form clouds, as reservoirs for the purpose of furnishing rain for the watering of the earth. God is seen in little things, as well as great things; and the inconceivably little, as well as the stupendously great, are equally the work of Omnipotence. They... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 36:28

Which the clouds do drop - In proportion to the evaporation will be the clouds or masses of volatilized and suspended vapor; and in proportion to this will be the quantum of rain which in different forms will fall upon the earth. There is a remarkable addition to this verse in the Septuagint. I shall insert the whole verse: Ῥυησονται παλαιωματα, εσκιασε δε νεφη επι αμυθητῳ βροτῳ· ὡραν εθετο κτηνεσιν, οιδασι δε κοιτης ταξιν· επι τουτοις πασιν ουκ εξισταται σου ἡ διανοια, ουδε... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 36:29

Can any understand the spreadings of the clouds - Though the vapor appear to be fortuitously raised, and subject, when suspended in the atmosphere, to innumerable accidents, to different winds and currents which might drive it all to the sandy deserts, or direct its course so that it should fall again into the great deep from which it has been exhaled, without watering and refreshing the earth; yet so does the good and wise providence of God manage this matter, that every part of the arable... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 36:30

He spreadeth his light upon it - Or, as Mr. Good translates, "He throweth forth from it his flash." These two verses may both have an allusion to the sudden rarefaction of that part of the atmosphere whence the thunder proceeds, by the agency of the electric fluid; the rushing in of the air on each side to restore the equilibrium, which the passage of the fire had before destroyed. The noise produced by this sudden rushing in of the air, as well as that occasioned by the ignition of the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 36:31

By them judgeth he the people - He makes storms, tempests, winds, hurricanes, tornadoes, thunder and lightning, drought and inundation, the instruments of his justice, to punish rebellious nations. He giveth meat in abundance - Though by these he punishes offenders, yet through the same, as instruments, he provides for the wants of men and animals in general. Storms, tempests, and hurricanes, agitate the lower regions of the atmosphere, disperse noxious vapours, and thus render it fit... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 36:32

With clouds he covereth the light - This is all extraordinary saying, אור כמה כפים על al cappayim kissah or , which Mr. Good translates, "He brandisheth the blaze athwart the concave." The Vulgate, with which all the other versions less or more agree, has, In manibus abscondit lucem , "In his hands he hideth the light;" or, more literally, "By the hollow of his hands ( כפים cappayim ) he concealeth the light, ( אור or ,") the fountain of light, i.e., the Sun. And commandeth... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 36:33

The noise thereof showeth concerning it, the cattle also concerning the vapor - I think this translation very unhappy. I shall give each hemistich in the original: - רעו עליו יגיד Yaggid alaiv reo עולה על אף מקנה Mikneh aph al oleh . I think this may be translated without any violence to any word in the text: - Its loud noise (or his thunder) shall proclaim concerning him; A magazine of wrath against iniquity. This is literal, and gives, in my opinion, a proper... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 36:1-33

The two chapters, Job 36:1-33 ; Job 37:1-24 , form a single discourse, and ought not to have been separated; or, at any rate, not so unskilfully as they are, in the middle of a description of a thunderstorm. They constitute a final appeal to Job, who is exhorted to submission, resignation, and patience, in consideration of God's inscrutability, and of his perfect justice, wisdom, and strength. Job 36:1-33 begins with a short preface ( Job 36:1-4 ), in which Elihu seeks to prove his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 36:22-33

Elihu to Job: 4. A sermon on the greatness of God. I. ABSOLUTE IN HIS SOVEREIGNTY . 1 . Ruling by his own power. "Behold, God exalteth" ( se. himself), i.e. showeth himself to be exalted, "acteth loftily" (Delitzsch) "in his strength" (verse 22). The universal empire of God is based on his omnipotence. With him might and right are co-ordinate and coextensive. "He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves" ( Psalms... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 36:26

Behold, God is great, and we know him not . This is the final lesson which Elihu seeks to impress on his hearers. God is so great their fully to comprehend him transcends the power of the human understanding. However much we know of him, there is more that we do not know. His nature is unsearchable; his depths ( 1 Corinthians 2:10 ) are inscrutable; try as we may, we can never "find him out" ( Job 37:23 ). Neither can the number of his years be searched out . Even his duration, being... read more

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