Job 38:8-21

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 38:4-11

For the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance even concerning the earth and the sea. Though so near, though so bulky, yet he could give no account of their origination, much less of heaven above or hell beneath, which are at such a distance, or of the several parts of matter which are so minute, and then, least of all, of the divine counsels. I. Concerning the founding of the earth. ?If he have such a mighty insight, as he pretends to have, into the counsels of God, let him give... read more

Matthew Henry

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

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 Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:15

And from the wicked their light is withholden ,.... Whose light is darkness, and whose day is the night, of which they are deprived when the morning light breaks forth; see Job 24:17 ; it may be figuratively understood of the light of prosperity being removed from them, or the light of life, when they shall be sent into utter darkness; and the high arm shall be broken ; their power weakened and made useless; even the power of such wicked men who have had a large share of it, and have... read more

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