Job 38:16-30

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 38:12-24

The Lord here proceeds to ask Job many puzzling questions, to convince him of his ignorance, and so to shame him for his folly in prescribing to God. If we will but try ourselves with such interrogatories as these, we shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in comparison with what we know not. Job is here challenged to give an account of six things:? I. Of the springs of the morning, the day-spring from on high, Job 38:12-15. As there is no visible being of which we may be... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 38:25-41

Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as were proper to convince him of his ignorance and short-sightedness. Now he comes, in the same manner, to show his impotency and weakness. As it is but little that he knows, and therefore he ought not to arraign the divine counsels, so it is but little that he can do, and therefore he ought not to oppose the proceedings of Providence. Let him consider what great things God does, and try whether he can do the like, or whether he thinks himself an... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:16

Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea ?.... The subterraneous passages through which the waters flow into the sea and supply it; or the springs and fountains that rise up at the bottom of it F9 According to Dr. Plot, the principal fountains have their origin, and are supplied with water through subterraneous passages from the sea. De Origine Fontium, &c.; apud Act. Erudit. Lips. A. M. 1685. p. 538. See Gen vii. 11. ; and some tell us of springs of sweet water that rise... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:17

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee ?.... Meaning not by which death has entered into the world, and which have been the causes and occasion of it; as the sin of man, the appointment of God, and various providences, calamities and diseases; but by which men enter into the state of the dead. Men know not experimentally what death is, nor in what way they shall go out of the world, nor at what time, nor in what place; they know not what the state of the dead is, there is no... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:18

Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth ?.... Which may be put for all the dimensions of it, length, breadth, diameter, and circumference, but especially it regards the surface of it, and the measurement of that; hast thou gone over the whole face of the earth and measured it, all its parts, its hills and dales, rocks and mountains, and took a survey of all the cities, towns and villages, woods, forests, fountains, rivers, &c;? no; if a man lived as long as Methuselah, and spent all... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:19

Where is the way where light dwelleth ?.... Or the way to the place where it dwells, and what that is; and as for darkness, where is the place thereof ? where these were placed when they were first separated at the creation? where light goes and dwells, when it departs from us at sun setting? and where the darkness betakes itself, and makes its abode at sun rising? What is the chamber of the sun, and the tabernacle of it? from whence it sets out, and whither it returns? And... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:20

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof ,.... Either darkness, or rather the light; take it as it were by the hand, and guide and direct its course to its utmost bound. This only the Lord can do and does: he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which goes forth at his command as a strong man to run a race; whose going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: in which his course is so steered and directed by the Lord, that he never misses his way or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:21

Knowest thou it , because thou wast then born ?.... When light and darkness were first separated, and had their several apartments assigned them; their laws and rules given them, and their bounds and limits set them? No; he was not: and, had he been the first man, could not have been early enough to have been present at the doing of this, and so come at the knowledge thereof; since man was not made until the sixth day of the creation; or because the number of thy days is great ;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:22

Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail? The vapours raised, and clouds formed in the atmosphere, which is the storehouse of those meteors; and may be called treasures, because hidden in the clouds, and not seen by man until the fall of them; and because they are in the keeping, and at the command and direction of the Lord the proprietor of them; and because rich and enriching, especially snow, which falling keeps the earth warm, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:23

Which I have reserved against the time of trouble ,.... For the punishment or affliction of men; and is explained as follows, against the day of battle and war ? as his artillery and ammunition to light his enemies with. Of hail we have instances in Scripture, as employed against the Egyptians and Canaanites, Exodus 9:25 ; and of a reserve of it in the purposes of God, and in prophecy against the day of battle with antichrist, Revelation 16:21 ; and so Jarchi interprets it here of... read more

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