job 38-42

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:5

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest ?.... Did God or a creature? The Lord, no doubt. He laid them out in his divine mind, and laid them forth by his divine power; who does all things by weight and measure. He fixed the dimensions of the earth, how long, how thick, and how broad it should be; he settled the borders and boundaries of it. This Job might know that the Lord did; but he laid them, and what they are that are laid, he knew not. Mathematicians pretend to give us the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:6

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened ?.... Or the pillars of it, as Ben Gersom interprets it; see Psalm 75:3 ; and which Aben Ezra understands of the mountains: but be they what they may, on what can they be fastened or sunk into, when the earth hangs on nothing, and there is nothing visible to support it, nothing but the mighty hand of God? or who laid the corner stone thereof ? which unites, cements, and keeps the fabric together, and is the ornament and beauty of it; but... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:7

When the morning stars sang together ,.... Either all the stars in a literal sense; for though, strictly speaking, there is but one morning star, yet all may be called so, because early created in the morning of the world; and are all stars of light, shine till the morning; and it is observed by some, that the nearer the morning the brighter they shine: and these in their way sing the praises of God, and set forth the glory of his perfections, and occasion songs of praise in men; see Psalm... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:8

Or who shut up the sea with doors ,.... From the earth the transition is to the sea, according to the order of the creation; and this refers not to the state and case of the sea as at the flood, of which some interpret it, but as at its first creation; and it is throughout this account represented as an infant, and here first as in embryo, shut up in the bowels of the earth, where it was when first created with it, as an infant shut up in its mother's womb, and with the doors of it; see ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:9

When I made the cloud the garment thereof ,.... For this newborn babe, the sea; and thick darkness a swaddling band for it ; which was the case of the sea when it burst out of the bowels of the earth and covered it, for then darkness was upon the face of the deep, a dark, foggy, misty air, Genesis 1:2 ; and this was before its separation from the land, and in this order it stands in this account; though since, clouds, fogs, and mists, which rise out of the sea, are as garments to it,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:10

And brake up for it my decreed place ,.... Or, as Mr. Broughton translates it, "and brake the earth for it by my decree": made a vast chasm in the earth to hold the waters of the sea, which was provided as a sort of cradle to put this swaddled infant in; God cleaved the earth, raised the hills and sank the valleys, which became as channels to convey the waters that ran off the earth to their appointed place, which beautifully expressed in Psalm 104:7 ; and refers there, as here, to the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:11

And said, hitherto shalt thou come, but no further ,.... The waters of the sea shall spread themselves to such and such shores, and wash them, but go no further; its rolling tides shall go up so far in rivers that go out of it, and then return, keeping exactly to time and place; this is said by Jehovah, the Word of God, and through his almighty power is tended to; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed ; so high and no higher shall they lift up themselves; so far and no farther shall... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:12

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days ;.... Job had lived to see many a morning, but it never was in his power to command one; he had been in such circumstances as to wish for morning light before it was, but was obliged to wait for it, could not hasten it, or cause it to spring before its time; see Job 7:3 ; one of the Targums is, "wast thou in the days of the first creation, and commandedst the morning to be?' he was not, God was; he was before the first morning, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:13

That it might take hold of the ends of the earth ,.... As when the morning light springs forth, it quickly does, reaching in a short time the extreme part of the hemisphere; which, and what goes before, may be applied to the light of the Gospel, and the direction of that under divine Providence in the several parts of the world, and unto the ends of it; see Psalm 19:4 ; that the wicked might be shaken out of it ? the earth, by means of the light; which may be understood either of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:14

It is turned as clay to the seal ,.... As the clay receives a different form by the impress of the seal upon it, so the earth appears in a different manner by the spring of morning light upon it; in the darkness of the night nothing of its form and beauty is to be seen; it is a mere "tohu" and "bohu", like the chaos, Genesis 1:2 ; its rising hills, and spreading dales, and beautiful landscapes, cannot be observed with pleasure; but when the light breaks forth in the morning, it is seen... read more

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:12

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:13

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:14

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