Job 38:16-38

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:24

By what way is the light parted ,.... That is, dost thou know by what way it is parted or divided? as at the first creation, when God divided the light from darkness, Genesis 1:4 ; or at sun rising and sun setting; and so in the two hemispheres, when there is darkness on the one, and light on the other; or under the two poles, when there are interchangeably six months light and six months darkness. Or how it is parted in an unequal distribution of day and night, at different seasons and in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:25

Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters ,.... For a very large shower of rain, as the Vulgate Latin version: for this is not to be understood of an aqueduct, channel, or canal made on earth, either for the draining of waters off of land overflowed thereby, or for the conveyance of it to different parts to overflow it; such as were cut out of the Nile in Egypt, for the overflowing of the land, to make it fruitful; such may be and have been made by men: but of a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:26

To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is ; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man. Which is uninhabited by men, being so dry and barren; where there is no man to cultivate and water it, as gardens are; and where is no man to receive any advantage by the rain that comes upon it; and yet the Lord sends it for the use of animals that dwell there; which shows his care and providence with respect even to the wild beasts of the earth. This may be an emblem of the rain of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:27

To satisfy the desolate and waste ground ,.... Which is exceeding desolate, and therefore two such words are used to express it; which is so dry and thirsty that it is one of the four things that say not it is enough, Proverbs 30:16 ; and yet God can and does give it rain to its full satisfaction, Psalm 104:13 ; so the Lord satisfies souls, comparable to dry and thirsty ground, by his word and ordinances, with the goodness and fatness of his house; see Psalm 63:1 ; and to cause... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:28

Hath the rain a father ?.... None but God; hence the Heathens themselves call God γετιος F25 Aristot. de Mundo, c. 7. , and ομβριος F26 Pausan. Attica, sive, l. 1. p. 60. ; see Jeremiah 14:22 ; he that is our Father in heaven is the Father of rain, and him only; whatever secondary causes there be, God only is the efficient cause, parent, and producer of it: so the Gospel is not of men but of God, is a gift of his, comes down from heaven, tarries not for men, and is a great... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:29

Out of whose womb came the ice ?.... The parent of the rain and dew is the parent of the ice also, and he only; it is therefore called "his ice", his child, his offspring, Psalm 147:17 . Here the Lord is represented as a mother, and so he is by Orpheus F2 Apud Clement. Stromat. l. 5. p. 608. called "metropator", or "mother-father"; and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it ? this is of God, and by his breath; see Job 37:10 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:30

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 F3 "Nunc hospita plaustris", &c.; Virg. Georgic. l. 3. v. 362. 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:31

Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades ,.... Of which See Gill on Job 9:9 ; and this constellation of the seven stars which is meant, rising in the spring, the pleasantnesses of the season, as the word may be rendered, may be intended here; which cannot be restrained or hindered from taking place in the proper course of the year; which is beautifully described in Song of Solomon 2:12 ; and may in a spiritual sense relate to the effects of powerful and efficacious grace, the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:32

Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season ?.... Which are thought to be the same with "the chambers of the south", Job 9:9 ; the southern pole F13 David de Pomis, Lexic. fol. 77. 3. with its stars, signified by chambers, because hidden from our sight in this part of the globe; and here by Mazzaroth, from, "nazar", to separate, because separated and at a distance from us; some think F14 Vatablus, Codurcus, Schultens; so Suidas in voce μαζουραθ . the twelve signs of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:33

Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven ?.... Settled by the decree, purpose, and will of God, and are firm and stable; see Psalm 148:6 ; the laws and statutes respecting their situation, motion, operation, influence, and use, which are constantly observed; these are so far from being made by men, and at their direction, that they are not known by them, at least not fully and perfectly; canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth ? or over it; of the heavens over the earth; not such... read more

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