Job 38:1-7

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:2

Who is this that darkeneth counsel - As if he had said, Who art thou who pretendest to speak on the deep things of God, and the administration of his justice and providence, which thou canst not comprehend; and leavest my counsels and designs the darker for thy explanation? read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:3

Gird up now thy loins - I will not confound thee with my terrors; dismiss all fearful apprehensions from thy mind; now act like a man, כגבר kegeber , like a hero: stand and vindicate thyself. For I will demand of thee - I will ask thee a series of questions more easy of solution than those which thou hast affected to discuss already; and then thou shalt have the opportunity of answering for thyself. The most impressive and convincing manner of arguing is allowed to be that by... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:4

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? - Thou hast a limited and derived being; thou art only of yesterday; what canst thou know? Didst thou see me create the world? read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:5

Who hath laid the measures thereof - Who hath adjusted its polar and equatorial distances from the center? Who hath stretched the line - Who hath formed its zones and its great circles, and adjusted the whole of its magnitude and gravity to the orbit in which it was to move, as well as its distance from that great center about which it was to revolve? These questions show the difficulty of the subject; and that there was an unfathomable depth of counsel and design in the formation of the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:6

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? - How does it continue to revolve in the immensity of space? What supports it? Has it foundations like a building, and is it fastened with a key-stone, to keep the mighty fabric in union? read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:7

When the morning stars sang together - This must refer to some intelligent beings who existed before the creation of the visible heavens and earth: and it is supposed that this and the following clause refer to the same beings; that by the sons of God, and the morning stars, the angelic host is meant; as they are supposed to be first, though perhaps not chief, in the order of creation. For the latter clause the Chaldee has, "All the troops of angels." Perhaps their creation may be included... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:1

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind . It is remarked, with reason, that the special mention of Job as the person answered "implies that another speaker had intervened" (Wordsworth); while the attachment of the article to the word "whirlwind" implies some previous mention of that phenomenon, which is only to be found in the discourse of Elihu ( Job 37:9 ). Both points have an important bearing on the genuineness of the disputed section, ch. 32-37. And said . The question... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:1

Job 42:6 The discourses of Jehovah. At length, in answer to the repeated appeals of Job, the Almighty appears, not to crush and overwhelm, as fear had often suggested, but to reason with his servant; to appeal to his spiritual intelligence, rather than to smite him into lower prostration by some thunderbolt of rebuke. "Come now, and let us reason together," is the gracious invitation of him who is Eternal Reason, amidst the wild clamours of our passion and despondency. At the same time,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:1

A theophany. At length Job has his wish. He has been longing to meet with God and praying for God to reveal himself. The time has now come for God to hear his prayer and make his will known. This is far more important than man's speculations. I. THE COMING OF GOD . 1 . The time of his coming. God comes last. The three friends have had their say, reiterating till they weary us. Job has been free to vent his grief and his despair. Elihu, more enlightened, yet not quite... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:1-3

Jehovah to Job: the first answer-the theophany. I. THE LORD 'S APPEARANCE TO JOB . 1 . The time of this appearance. At the close of Elihu's address. Not too soon, when neither had Elihu finished his expositions nor had Job's heart been suitably prepared for such an interview as he was on the eve of obtaining, but precisely at the moment when the purpose of his coming was most likely to be effected. God never mistimes any of his visits to his people, whether he comes for... read more

Group of Brands