JEHOVAH’S DISCOURSE.—The aim of which is to prove that the Almighty and Only Wise God, with whom no mortal man should dispute, might also ordain suffering simply to prove and test the righteous: (Second Half of the positive solution of the problem.)
Job_38:1
to Job_40:5
First Discourse of Jehovah (together with Job’s answer): With God, the Almighty and Only Wise, no man may dispute. Job_38:1 to Job_40:5
1. Introduction: The appearance of God; His demand that Job should answer Him
Job_38:1-3
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
2 2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel
by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man;
for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me!
2. God’s questions touching His power revealed in the wonders of creation
Job_38:4
-Job_39:30
a. Questions respecting the process of creation:
Job_38:4-15.
4 Where wast thou, when I laid the foundations of the earth?
declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measure thereof, if thou knowest?
or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
or who laid the corner-stone thereof:
7 when the morning-stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors,
when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof,
and thick darkness a swaddling-band for it;
10 and brake up for it my decreed place,
and set bars and doors,
11 and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;
and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days;
and caused the day spring to know his place;
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal;
and they stand as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light is withholden,
and the high arm shall be broken.
b. Respecting the inaccessible depths and heights below and above the earth, and the forces proceeding from them
Job_38:16-27
16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?
or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?
declare if thou knowest it all.
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth?
and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
20 that thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,
and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
21 Knowest thou it because thou wast then born?
or because the number of thy days is great?
22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?
or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the light parted,
which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters,
or a way for the lightning of thunder;
26 to cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is;
on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27 to satisfy the desolate and waste ground;
and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
c. Respecting the phenomena of the atmosphere, and the wonders of the starry heavens
Job_38:28-38
28 Hath the rain a father?
or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice?
and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,
or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?
or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven?
canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth.
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,
that abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go,
and say unto thee, Here we are?
36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?
or who hath given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom?
or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 when the dust groweth into hardness,
and the clods cleave fast together?
d. Respecting the preservation and propagation of wild animals, especially of the lion, raven, wild goat, oryx, ostrich, war-horse, hawk, and eagle
Job_38:39 to Job_39:30
39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion?
or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they couch in their dens,
and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 who provideth for the raven his food?
when his young ones cry unto God,
they wander for lack of meat.
Chap. 39
1 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?
or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil?
or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones,
they cast out their sorrows.
4 Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn;
they go forth, and return not unto them.
5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free?
or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness,
and the barren land his dwellings.
7 He scorneth the multitude of the city,
neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture,
and he searcheth after every green thing.
9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee,
or abide by thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow?
or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11 Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great?
or wilt thou leave thy labor to him?
12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed,
and gather it into thy barn?
13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks?
or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth,
and warmeth them in the dust,
15 and forgetteth that the foot may crush them,
or that the wild beast may break them.
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers:
her labor is in vain without fear;
17 because God hath deprived her of wisdom,
neither hath He imparted unto her understanding.
18 What time she lifteth up herself on high,
she scorneth the horse and his rider.
19 Hast thou given the horse strength?
hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?
the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength:
he goeth on to meet the armed men.
22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted;
neither turneth he back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth against him,
the glittering spear and the shield.
24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage;
neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha!
and he smelleth the battle afar off,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom,
and stretch her wings toward the south?
27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command,
and make her nest on high?
28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock,
upon the crag of the rock and the strong place.
29 From thence she seeketh the prey,
and her eyes behold afar off.
30 Her young ones also suck up blood;
and where the slain are, there is she.
3. Conclusion of the discourse, together with Job’s answer, announcing his humble submission
Job_40:1-5
Chap. 40.
1 And Jehovah answered Job, and said,
2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him?
he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
3 Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee?
I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
5 Once have I spoken, but I will not answer:
yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The appearance of God, which Job had again and again expressly wished for, a wish which recurs in Job_23:3 seq., and especially towards the end of his last discourse (Job_31:35), and for which Elihu’s preaching of doctrine and of repentance had prepared the way—this appearance now takes place during that storm, of fearful beauty, which had supplied the last of Elihu’s discourses with the material for its impressive descriptions of the greatness of God in His works. This Divine manifestation, which is not to be understood as taking place corporeally in a human form; see on Job_38:1—corresponds moreover to the preparatory representations proceeding from Elihu in this respect, that like those representations it bears testimony at the same time in behalf of Job and against him. It testifies for Job in that it brings about the actual realization of the ardent longing which he had so often uttered, and in that it is not accompanied by that terrifying and crushing effect on the bold challenger which he himself had several times dreaded as possible (Job_9:34; Job_13:21; Job_23:6), and had on that account deprecated. It testifies against him by means of the deep humiliation which the majesty of the Almighty occasions to him, by means of the consciousness wrought within him of his own insignificance and limitation in contrast with this fulness of power and wisdom, and by means of the principle which in this very way is brought forth into full expression, and which is expressly acknowledged by him at the close of this first address of Jehovah—the principle, namely, that from henceforth he must lay aside entirely all condemnation of God’s ways, and be willing to submit himself in absolute humility to His decree.—Again the rich illustration, elaborated in the most elevated style of poetic discourse, which in this first address God gives of His all-transcending majesty in contrast with man’s insignificance (chs. Job_38:4 to Job_39:30) is also such as testifies at once for and against Job, and thus continues with increased emphasis the strain already begun by Elihu (especially in his fourth discourse). On the one side it serves to confirm the previous descriptions given by Job himself of God’s greatness, wonderful power, and plenitude of wisdom; on the other side it transcends the same in the incomparably more elevated and impressive power of its representation, under the influence of which the last remainder of insolent pride still adhering to Job must of necessity dissolve and disappear. The discourse forms one well-conceived, harmoniously constructed whole, consisting of two principal divisions of almost equal length, of which the first (Job_38:4-38) refers to the creation and to inanimate nature, the second (chs. Job_38:39; Job_39:30) to the animal kingdom, as sources of evidence proving the divine majesty. It is not necessary to resolve these two divisions into two separate discourses, as is done by Köster and Schlottmann, the former of whom even deems it necessary to resort to the violent operation of transposing the conclusion in Job_40:1-5, and putting it after Job_38:36.—Each of these divisions may be subdivided into three strophegroups, or long strophes, consisting of 11–12 verses each, which may again be subdivided, according to the subjects described, into subordinate strophes or paragraphs, now longer and now shorter. Of these simple, short strophes the three long strophes of the first principal division (a, b and c) contain respectively three to four, whereas the last two long strophes, at least of the second chief division, which dwell on themes derived from the animal world, consist of but two short strophes respectively.
2. The Introduction:Job_38:1-3.—Then Jehovah answered Job out of the storm.—The “answering” or “replying” refers back to Job’s repeated challenges, and especially to the last, found in Job_31:35 : “Let the Almighty answer me!”—
îִðְäַñְּòָøָä
(here, as also in Job_40:6 with medial
ð
; comp. Ewald, § 9, 11, c [Green, § 4, a]; which the K’ri in both cases sets aside) “out of the storm (thunderstorm);” not (as Luther translates) “out of a storm.” It is beyond question an unsatisfactory explanation of the definite article to say that as applied to
ñòøä
it means that storm, which “always, or as a rule, is wont to announce and to accompany the appearance of God, whenever He draws nigh to the earth in majesty and in the character of a judge” (Dillmann). In view of the way in which the most ancient Old Testament sources describe the theophanies of the patriarchal age in general, this generic rendering of the article is not at all suitable (comp. also 1Ki_19:11 : “the Lord was not in the wind”). The only explanation of the
äñòøä
here, as well as in Job_40:6, which is linguistically and historically satisfactory, is that which finds in it a reference to Elihu’s description of a violent thunder-storm in his last discourse (Job 36:37)—a reference which at the same time confirms not only our interpretation of this discourse given above, but also its genuineness, and the authenticity of Elihu’s discourses in general. Placing ourselves (along with the commentators cited above on Job 36.) on this, the only correct point of view, we see at once the impossibility of viewing “God’s speaking out of the storm” as taking place through a corporeal appearance of Jehovah in human form. On the contrary, precisely in the same way that Elihu’s description pre-supposed only an invisible approach and manifestation of God in the storm-clouds, in their thunder and lightning, so also here a similar presence and self-manifestation of the Highest is intended, taking place under the veil of those mighty phenomena of nature; hence only a symbolical, not a corporeal appearance of God. For this reason we may with some propriety describe the solution of the whole problem of our poem which is introduced by this divine appearance as “a solution in the consciousness” (Delitzsch). In any case the theophany which effects it is to be conceived of as one in which God “drew near to the earth veiled, perceptible indeed to the ear, and in His shining veil visible to the eye, but nevertheless veiled, and not presenting a bodily appearance” (Ewald). [In accordance with the explanation given above of Job_37:21-22, the
ñòøä
out of which Jehovah speaks is not to be limited to the storm while raging, but refers rather to “the dark materials of the storm now pacified,” the mountainous cloud-masses in the north, which having spent their thunder, were now looming up in “terrible majesty,” while their open rifts disclosed the golden irradiation of the sunlight, a scene we may suppose not unlike that described by Wordsworth near the close of the Second Book of the Excursion. Such a scene, just preceded as it had been by the awe-inspiring phenomena of the storm at its height would fitly usher in the Divine Presence, from which the words which are to end the controversy are about to proceed.—E.]
Job_38:2. Who is this that darkens counsel: lit. “who is this, who is here (
îִé æֶä
, comp. Gesenius, § 122 [§ 120], 2) darkening counsel?”
òֵöָä
without the article (instead of
äָòֵöָä
, or instead of
òֲöָúִé
) is used intentionally in order to describe that which is darkened by Job qualitatively, as something “which is a counsel (or a plan),” as opposed to a whim, or a cruel caprice, such as Job had represented God’s dealings with him as being. [“Two things are implied in what is here said to Job: that his suffering is founded on a plan of God’s, and that he by his perverse speeches is guilty of distorting and mistaking this plan (in representing it as caprice without a plan).” Dillm. Job’s ignorant words had “darkened” God’s plan by obscuring or keeping out of sight its intelligent benevolent features]. The participle
îַçֲùִׁéêְ
is used rather than the Perf., because down to the very end of his speaking Job had misunderstood God’s counsel, and even during Elihu’s discourses he had recalled nothing of what he had said in this particular. For to the instruction and reproofs of this last speaker he had made no other response than persistent profound silence. He actually appeared accordingly at the moment when Jehovah himself began to speak as still a “darkener of counsel,” however true it might be that his conversion to a better frame of mind had already begun inwardly to take place under the influence of the addresses of his predecessor. This participle
îַçֲùִׁéêְ
accordingly furnishes no argument against the genuineness of chap. 32-37. (against Ewald, Delitzsch, Dillmann, etc.): and all the less seeing that a direct interruption of Job at the moment when he had last spoken contentiously and censoriously in respect to God’s plan (Job_31:35 seq.) by the appearance of God cannot be intended even if these chapters were in fact not genuine (comp. remarks on that passage). And especially would the assumption that the interpolator of the Elihu discourses had been prompted by this expression,
îַçֲùִׁéêְ
, purposely to avoid introducing Job within the limits of that section as making any confession whatever of his penitence, presuppose on the part of the interpolator a degree of artistic deliberation, nay more, of crafty cunning absolutely without a parallel in the entire Bible literature.
Job_38:3. Gird up now thy loins like a man—i.e., in preparation for the contest with me (comp. Job_12:21). According to b this contest is to consist in a series of questions to be addressed by God to Job and to be answered by the latter; hence formally or apparently in the very thing which Job himself had in Job_13:22 wished for; in reality however God so overwhelms him by the humiliating contents of these questions that the absolute inequality of the contending parties and Job’s guilt become apparent at once.
3. The argument: a. God’s questions respecting the process of creation:Job_38:4-15. [This division consists of three minor strophes of four verses each, the fourth verse in each forming, as Schlottmann observes, a climax in the thought].
a. Questions touching the foundation of the earth:Job_38:4-7.
Job_38:4. Where wast thou when I founded the earth? (A question similar to that of Eliphaz above: Job_15:7 seq.). Declare it if thou hast understanding—to wit, of the way in which this process was carried on. This same How of the process of founding the earth is also the unexpressed object of
äַâֵּã
“declare!” In respect
éָãַò áִּéðָä
, “to have an understanding of anything,” comp. Isa_29:24; Pro_4:1; 2Ch_2:12.
Job_38:5. Who hath fixed its measure that thou shouldest know it?—
ëִּé úֵãַò
, not: “for thou surely knowest it” (Schlottmann) [Good, Lee, Barnes, Carey, Renan, Elzas], but “so that thou shouldest know it” (
ëִé
as in Job_3:12). [Dillmann objects to the rendering, “for thou knowest,” that the verb should be in that case
éָãַòְúָּ
; an objection which may also be urged against the rendering of E. V., Sept., Vulg., Umbreit, Rosenmüller, Bernard, “if thou knowest.” Compare
àִí éָãַòְúָּ
in Job_38:4 b.]. “The
îִé
inquires not after the person of the Architect, the same being sufficiently known, but rather after His character, and that of His activity:—what kind of a being must He be who could fix the earth’s measure like that of a building?” (Dillmann).
Job_38:6. Whereon were its pillars sunken—i.e., on what kind of a foundation?
àֲãָðִéí
lit. “pedestals,” comp. Exo_26:19 seq.; Son_5:15. The meaning of the question is of course that already indicated in Job_9:6; Job_26:7, according to which passages the earth hangs free in space. The question in b refers to the same thing: “or who laid down her corner-stone?” where the “laying down” (
éָøָä
, jacere) of the corner-stone points to the wonderful ease with which the entire work was accomplished.
Job_38:7. When the morning-stars sang out together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.—The Infinitive
øֹï
is continued in b by the finite verb, as in Job_38:13, and often. The whole description determines the time of the fact of the founding of the earth (
êáôáâïëὴ êüóìïõ
) spoken of in Job_38:6. The founding is here set forth as a festal celebration (comp. Ezr_3:10; Zec_4:7) attended by all the heavenly hosts, which are here mentioned by the double designation “sons of God” (comp. Job_1:6; Job_2:1) and “morning stars, i.e., creatures of such glory, that they surpass all other creatures of God in the same way that the brightness of the morning-star (
=
ëּåֹëַá áֹּ÷ֶø äֵéìֵì
, Isa_14:12, Lucifer) eclipses all the other stars. As another example of this generic generalized form of expression here found in the word “morning-stars,” compare the
ëִּñִéìִéí
of Isa_13:10, i.e., the Orion-like constellations. The expression “morning-stars” moreover is scarcely to be understood as a tropical designation of that which is literally designated by the expression “sons of God,” that is to say, the angels (Hirzel, Dillmann [Carey, Wemyss, Barnes] etc.). Rather are the angels and stars mentioned together here in precisely the same way that in Job_15:15 “heaven” and “the holy ones” of God are mentioned together, this being in accordance with the mysterious connection which the Holy Scriptures generally set forth as existing between the starry and angelic worlds (comp. also on Job_25:6). Such a representation of the brightly shining and joyously “jubilating” stars (comp. Psa_19:2; Psa_148:3) as present when the earth was founded by God by no means contradicts the Mosaic account of creation in Genesis 1. where verse 14 (according to which the sun, moon and stars were not made until the fourth day) is assuredly to be interpreted phenomenally, not as descriptive of the literal fact.
â
. Questions respecting the shutting up of the sea within bounds:Job_38:8-11.
Job_38:8. And (who) shut up the sea with doors?—
åַéָּñֵêְ
, which is attached to
îִé éָøָä
in Job_38:6, is used with reference to the waters of the sea in the newly-created earth, which at first wildly swelling and raging had in consequence to be enclosed, penned up, as it were, behind the doors (comp. Job_3:23) of a prison (comp. Gen_1:2; Gen_1:9 seq.). The second member introduces a clause determining the time of the first which continues to the end of Job_38:11.—When it burst forth, came out from the womb—i.e., out of the interior of the earth (comp. Job_38:16). The verb
âִּéçַ
, which is used in Psa_22:10 [9] of the bursting forth of the fœtus out of the womb, is explained by the less bold word
éֵöֵà
(which follows the Infinitive in the same way as the finite verb above in Job_38:7). The representation of the earth as the womb, out of which the waters of the sea burst forth, seems to contradict the modern geological theory, which on the contrary makes the earth to emerge out of the primitive sea, which enveloped and covered everything. But the science of geology recognizes not only elevations, but depressions by sinking of land or mountain masses (comp. Friedr. Pfaff, Das Wasser, Munich, 1870, p. 250 seq.). Especially do the recent “Deep Sea Explorations,” as they are called, seem to be altogether favorable to the essential correctness of the biblical view presented here and also in Gen_7:11; Gen_8:2, which regards the interior of the earth as originally occupied by water (comp. Pfaff, p. 90 seq.; Hermann Gropp, Untersuchungen und Erfahrungen über das Verhalten des Grundwassers und der Quellen, Lippstadt, 1868).
Job_38:9. When I made the cloud its garment, etc. A striking poetic description of that which in Gen_2:6 seq. is narrated in historic prose. In respect to
çֲúֻìָּä
, “wrapping, swaddling-cloth,” comp. the corresponding verb in Eze_16:4. [By this expression the ocean is obviously compared to a babe. “God thus in grand language expresses how manageable was the ocean to Him.” Carey].
Job_38:10. And brake for it (lit. “over it”) my bound, etc. The verb
ùָׁáַø
which is not here equivalent to
âּæø
, “to appoint,” as Arnheim, Wette, Hahn [Lee, Bernard, Noyes, Conant, Wemyss, Barnes, Renan] think, [or according to Rosenmüller, Umbreit, Carey, “to span,” after the Arabic] vividly portrays the abrupt fissures of the sea-coast, which is often so high and steep. Comp. the Homeric
ἐðὶ ῥçãìῖíé èáëáóóçò
. On
çֹ÷
, “bound,” comp. Job_26:10; Pro_8:29; Jer_5:22. On b comp. Job_38:8 a.
Job_38:11. Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further (
åְìֹà úֹñִéó
scil.
ìָáåֹà
); here let one set against the pride of thy waves, scil. “a dam, a bound.” The verb
éָùִׁéú
, “let one place” is used passively [and impersonally] for “let there be placed” (comp. Gesen. § 137 [§ 134]). It is not necessary, with the Vulg. and Pesh. to read
úָּùִׁéú
, “here shalt thou stay the pride of thy waves,” or, with Codurcus, Ewald, and others to make
ôà
the subj. (in the sense of “this place”). On the pride of the waves”=“proud waves,” comp. Psa_89:10 [9].
ã
. Questions respecting the regular advance of the light of morning upon the earth:Job_38:12-15. [“The transition from the sea to the morning is not so abrupt as it appears. For the ancients supposed that the sun sets in the ocean, and at his rising comes out of it again.” Noyes. “Here with genuine poetry the dawn sending forth its rays upon the earth immediately after creation is represented in its regular recurrence and in its moral significance. This member accordingly forms the transition to the following strophe; it is however first of all the logical conclusion of the first.” Schlottmann].
Job_38:12. Hast thou since thy birth (lit. “from thy days”) commanded the morning (i.e., to arise at its time), made known to the dawn its place, (lit. “made the dawn to know its place”). Instead of the K’thibh,
éִãַּòְúָּä ùַׁçַø
it is certainly admissible to read with the K’ri
éִãַּòְúָּ äַùַּׁçַø
; the anarthrous
áֹּ÷ֶø
of the first member by no means requires us to remove the definite article from the dawn, which is always only one. [“The mention of its ‘place’ here seems to be an allusion to the fact that it does not always occupy the same position. At one season of the year it appears on the equator, at another north, at another south of it, and is constantly varying its position. Yet it always knows its place. It never fails to appear where by the long-observed laws it ought to appear.” Barnes].
Job_38:13. That it may take hold on the borders (or “fringes”) of the earth. The surface of the earth is conceived of as an outspread carpet, of the ends of which the dawn as it were takes hold all together as it rises suddenly and spreads itself rapidly (comp. Job_37:3; Psa_139:9), and this with the view of shaking out of it “the wicked, the evil-doers who, dreading the light, ply their business upon it by night;” i.e., of removing them from it at once. The passage contains an unmistakable allusion to Job’s own previous description in Job_24:13 seq. God, anticipating herein in a certain measure the contents of His second discourse, would give Job to understand “how through the original order of creation as established by Himself human wrong is ever annulled again”) Ewald. Comp. also Job_5:15).
Job_38:14. That it may change like signet-clay—i.e., the earth (
ãῆ óçìáíñßò
, Herod. II. 38), which during the night is, as it were, a shapeless mass, like unsealed wax, but which, in the bright light of the morning, reveals the entire beauty of its changing forms, of its heights and depths, etc. The subj. of
éִúְéַöְּáåֹ
is to be sought neither in the “morning” and “day-spring” of Job_38:12 (Schultens, Rosenmüller), which is altogether too far removed from this clause, nor in the “borders” of Job_38:13 (Ewald), but in the particular things found on the earth’s surface. The effect of the morning on them is that “they set themselves forth (or, all sets itself forth) like a garment,” i.e., in all the manifold variegated forms and colors of gay apparel.
Job_38:15. From the wicked their light is withheld—i.e., the darkness of the night with which they are so familiar [and which is to them what light is to others], comp. Job_24:16 seq. (Delitz.: “the light to which they are partial” [ihr Lieblingslicht]). And the uplifted arm (is) broken—i.e., figuratively, in the sense that the light of the day compels it to desist from the violence, to fulfil which it had raised itself (comp. Job_22:8).
4. Continuation: b. Questions respecting the heights and depths above and below the earth, and the natural forces proceeding from them: Job_38:16-27.
a. The depths under the earth: Job_38:16-18.
Job_38:16. Hast thou come to the well-springs of the sea?—i.e., to those “fountains of the deep” of which the Mosaic account of the Flood makes mention; Gen_7:11; Gen_8:2 (comp. above on Job_38:8). The phrase
ðִáְëֵéÎéָí
, found only here, is not, with Olshausen and Hitzig, to be changed into
ðִáְìֵéÎéָí
, for the root
ðáêְ
is evidently only a harsher variation of
ðáò
, and so beyond a doubt expresses the notion of “welling, springing.” Thus correctly the LXX:
ðçãὴ èáëÜóóçò
. [Jarchi, followed by Bernard, Lee, (and see Ewald and Schlottmann) defines
ðáëéí
to mean “entanglements, mazes” (comp.
áåêְ
); but this meaning is less probable than the one more commonly received after the Sept.].—In respect to
çֵ÷ֶø
in b, comp. above, Job_8:8; Job_11:7.
Job_38:17. Have the gates of death opened themselves to thee, etc.—Comp. Job_26:6, where the mention of the realm of the dead follows that of the sea precisely as here. On “death,” as meaning the realm of the dead, comp. Job_28:22; and on
öìîåú
in the same sense, see Job_10:21 seq.
Job_38:18. Hast thou made an examination unto the breadths of the earth.—
äúáåðï òã
signifies, as also in Job_32:12, “to attend to anything strictly, to take a close observation of anything,” the
òã
indicating that this observation is complete, that it penetrates through to the extreme limit. The interrogative
äֲ
is omitted before
äִúְáֹּðַðְúָּ
, in order to avoid the concurrence of the two aspirates (Ewald, § 324, b). On b comp. Job_38:4,
ëֻּìָäּ
refers not to the earth, but in the neuter sense, to the things spoken of in the questions just asked. [“To see the force of this (question), we must remember that the early conception of the earth was that it was a vast plain, and that in the time of Job its limits were unknown.” Barnes. “Too much stress is commonly laid on the fact that when the poet wrote this, only a small part of the earth was known. Unquestionably the consciousness of the limitation of man’s vision was in some respects strengthened by that, fact; but that which is properly the main point here, to wit, the inability of man, at one glance to compass the whole earth and all its hidden depths retains all its ancient stress in connection with the widest geographical acquaintance with the surface of the earth.” Schlottmann].
â
. The heights of light above the earth: Job_38:19-21.
Job_38:19. What is the way (thither, where) the light dwells.—On the relative clause
éִùְּׁëּåֹï àåֹø
comp. Ges. § 123 [§ 121], 3, c. On b, comp. Job_28:1-12. The meaning of the whole verse is as follows: Both light and darkness have a first starting point or a final outlet, which is unapproachable to man, and unattainable to his researches. [“As in Genesis 1., the light is here regarded as a self-subsistent, natural force, independent of the heavenly luminaries by which it is transmitted: and herein modern investigation agrees with the direct observations of antiquity.” Schlottm.]
Job_38:20. That Thou mightest bring them (light and darkness) to their bound [lit. “it to its bound,” the subjects just named considered separately].
ëִּé
as above in Job_38:5.
ì÷ç
lit. “to bring, to fetch;” comp. Gen_27:13; Gen_42:16; Gen_48:9.—And that thou shouldest know the paths of their house, i.e. “to their home, their abiding place” (comp. Job_28:23). It is possible that by this “knowing about the paths of their house” is meant taking back [escorting home] the light and darkness, just as in the first member mention is made of fetching, bringing them away; for the repetition of
ëִּé
seems to indicate that the meaning of the two halves of the verse is not identical (Dillmann).
Job_38:21 is evidently intended ironically: Thou knowest, for then wast thou born, i.e. at the time when light and darkness were created, and their respective boundaries were determined. The meaning is essentially the same as in Job_15:7. On the Imperf. with
àָæ
comp. Gesenius, § 127 [§ 125], 4, a; Ewald, § 136, b.—And the number of thy days is many.—The attraction in connection with
îִñְôַּø
as in Job_15:20; Job_21:21. [The interrogative rendering of this verse, as in E. V.: “Knowest thou it, because thou-wast then born?” etc., is excessively flat. It may be undesirable, as Barnes says, “to represent God as speaking in the language of irony and sarcasm, unless the rules of interpretation imperatively demand it.” But humiliating irony surely accords better with the dignity and character of the speaker, as well as with the connection, than pointless insipidity.—E.]
ã
. Snow and hail, light and wind: Job_38:22-24.
Job_38:22. Hast thou come to the treasuries of the snow? Comp. on Job_37:9. The figure of the “treasuries” (
àֹöָøåֹú
, magazines, storehouses) vividly represents the immense quantities in which snow and hail are wont to fall on the earth; comp. Psa_135:7.
Job_38:23 gives the purpose and rule of the Divine Government of the world, which snow and hail are constrained to subserve.—Which I have reserved for the time of distress.—Such an
òֵú öָø
(comp. Job_15:24; Job_36:16) may be caused in the east not only by a hailstorm (Exo_9:22; Hag_2:17; Sir_39:29), but even by a fall of snow. In February, 1860, innumerable herds of sheep, goats and camels, and also many men, were destroyed in Hauran by a snow-storm, in which snow fell in enormous quantities, as described by Muhammed el-Chatib el-Bosrawi in a writing still in the possession of Consul Wetzstein (Delitzsch).—The second member refers to such cases as Jos_10:11 (comp. Isa_28:17; Isa_30:30; Eze_13:13; Psa_68:15 [14]; 1Sa_7:10; 2Sa_23:20), where violent hail or thunder-storms contributed to decide the issues of war in accordance with the divine decrees.
Job_38:24. What is the way to where the light is parted [where] the east wind spreadeth over the earth.—The construction as in Job_38:19 a. The light and the east wind (i.e. a violent wind, a storm in general, comp. Job_27:21) are here immediately joined together, because the course of both these agents defies calculation, and because they are incredibly swift in their movements [possibly also because they both proceed from the same point of the compass].
àåֹø
scarcely denotes the lightning, as in Job_37:3 seq. (Schlottmann), which is first spoken of in Job_38:25, and then again in Job_38:35, and to which the verb
éçì÷
, “divides, scatters itself,” is less suitable than to the bright day-light (comp. Job_38:13 seq.) In respect to
äֵôִéõ
, se diffundere, comp. Exo_5:12; 1Sa_13:8. [According to the E. V. the light is the subject of both members: “By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth.” But this construction is less probable and suitable than that given above, which recognizes the “light” as the subject of the first member, and the “east-wind” of the second.—E.]
d. The rain-storm and the lightning considered as divinely appointed phenomena which, while they inspire terror, are productive of beneficent results: Job_38:25-27.
Job_38:25. Who hath divided a watercourse for the rain-torrent, i.e., conducted the rain through the thick masses of clouds to specific portions of the thirsty earth.
ùֶׁèֶó
, which of itself means “flood, torrent of waters” in general, is used here of a down-pouring beneficent torrent of rain [“the earthward direction assigned to the water-spouts is likened to an aqueduct coming downwards from the sky;” Delitzsch], and hence in a different sense from e.g., Psa_32:6. The second member is taken verbally from Job_28:26.
Job_38:26. That it may rain on the land where no man is; lit. “to cause it to rain,” etc. The subject of
ìְäַîְèִéø
is of course God who has been already indicated by
îִé
in Job_38:25. That it should rain on a land of “no-man” (the construction as in Job_10:22), i.e., on a land destitute of men, not artificially irrigated and tilled by men, is here set forth as a wise and loving providential arrangement of God’s. [“God lays stress on this circumstance in order to humiliate man, and to show him that the earth was made neither by him, nor for him.” Renan. “Man who is so prone to put his own interests above everything else, and to judge everything from his own human point of view, is here most strikingly reminded, how much wider is the range of the Divine vision, and how God in the exercise of His loving solicitude remembers even those regions, which receive no care from man, so that even there the possibility of life and growth is secured to His creatures.” Dillmann].
Job_38:27 then states more definitely this beneficent purpose of God: to satisfy the wild and wilderness, (
ùֹׁàָä åּîְùׁåֹàָä
as in Job_30:3) [“the desert is thus like a thirsty pilgrim; it is parched, and thirsty, and sad, and it appeals to God, and He meets its wants and satisfies it,” Barnes], and to make the green herb to sprout; lit. “to make the place (the place of going forth,
îֹöָà
, comp. Job_28:1) of the green herb to sprout.”
5. Continuation. c. Questions respecting the phenomena of the atmosphere and the wonders of the starry heavens: Job_38:28-38.
á
. Respecting rain, dew, ice, and hoar-frost: Job_38:28-30.
Job_38:28-29. Is there a father to the rain? As this member, together with the following inquires (through the formula
îִé äåֹìִéã
) after a male progenitor for the atmospheric precipitations of moisture, so does Job_38:29 inquire after the mother of ice and hoar-frost, for the formula
îִé éìֳãåֹ
in b also refers to the agency of a mother, as well as the question in a. This variation of gender in the representation is to be explained by the fact that rain and dew come from heaven, the abode of God, while ice and hoarfrost come out of the earth, out of the secret womb of the waters (verse 8).—
àֶâְìֵé èָì
in Job_38:28 b are not “reservoirs of dew” (Gesenius), for which the verb
äåֹìִéã
would not be suitable, but drops (lit. balls, globules; LXX.:
âῶëïé
) of dew, whether the root
àâì
be associated with
âììִ
, volvere (which is the view commonly held), or with the Arab, agal, retinere, colligere (so Delitzsch).
Job_38:30 describes more specifically the wonderful process which takes place when water is frozen into ice. The water hardens like stone.
éִúְçַáָּàåּ
, lit. “they hide themselves, draw themselves together, thicken” (a related form is
çָîָà
, whence
äֶîְàָä
, curdled milk). The same representation of the process of freezing as producing contraction or compression (a representation which in the strict physical sense is not quite correct, seeing that water on the contrary always expands in freezing—comp. Pfaff, in the work cited above, pp. 103, 189 seq.), was given above by Elihu, chapter Job_37:10, not however without indicating in what sense he intended this compression, a sense which is by no means incorrect; see on the passage. A similar intimation is conveyed here by the second member: and the face of the deep cleaves together, and thus constitutes a firm solid mass (continuum), instead of fluctuating to and fro, as in the fluid state.
äִúְìַëֵּã
as in Job_41:8 [17]; comp. the Greek
ἔ÷åóèáé
.
â
. Respecting the control of the stars, and of their influence upon earth: Job_38:31-33.
Job_38:31. Canst thou bind the bands of the Pleiades?—
îַòֲãַðּåֹú
here not = amœnitates, as in 1Sa_15:32, [E. V., “sweet influences,” referring to the softening and gladdening influences of spring-time, when that constellation makes its appearance] but vincula (LXX.:
äåóìüí
; Targ.
ùֵׁéøֵé
=
óåéñÜò
) as appears from
÷ùø
“to bind,” and the parallel
îåֹùְׁëåֹú
in b, and not less from the testimony of all the ancient versions, of Talmudic usage, and of the Masora. It is to be derived accordingly by transposition from
òðã
, “to bind” (comp. Job_31:36) not from
òãï
. The arranging of the stars of the Pleiades (
ëִּéîָä
as in Job_9:9) in a dense group is with poetic boldness described here as the binding of a fillet, or of a cluster of diamonds. (See a similar conception copied out of Persian poets in Ideler, Sternennamen, p. 147).—Or loose the bands of Orion, so that this brilliant constellation would fall apart, or fall down from heaven, to which the presumptuous giant is chained (comp. on Job_9:9). The explanation preferred by Dillmann is admissible, and even perhaps, in view of the etymon of
îåֹùְׁëåֹú
, to be preferred to the one more commonly adopted: “Or canst thou loose the lines [German—Zugseile, draw-lines, traces, the cords by which he is drawn up to his place, suggested by
ñùׁêְ
] of Orion (the giant suspended in heaven), and thus canst thou now raise, and now lower him in the firmament?” The reference of the passage to the Star Suhêl = Canopus (Saad., Gekat., Abulwalid, comp. also Delitzsch) is uncertain, and conflicts with the well-known signification of
ëְּñִéì
, which is also firmly established by Job_9:9.
Job_38:32. Canst thou bring forth the bright stars in their time (
áְּòִúּåֹ
as in Job_5:26; Psa_104:27; Psa_145:15). The word
îַæָּøåֹú
, to which such a variety of interpretations have been given, which already the LXX. did not understand, and accordingly rendered by
ìáóïõñþè
[followed herein by E. V., “Mazzaroth”], seems to be most simply explained (with Dillmann) as a contracted form of
îַæְäָøåֹú
, from
æäø
, splendere, and to mean accordingly “the brightly shining, brilliant stars,” in which case we may assume the planets to be intended, particularly such as are pre-eminently brilliant, as Venus, Jupiter, Mars, (comp. Vulg., “Luciferum”) [Fürst: Jupiter, the supreme god of good fortune]. The “being brought forth in their time” seems to suit better these wandering stars than e.g., “the two crowns,” the Northern and Southern (Cocceius, Eichhorn, Michaelis, Ewald, by comparison with
ðæø
) [these constellations being, as Dillmann objects, too obscure and too little known], or the twelve signs of the Zodiac (so the majority of moderns, on the basis of the very precarious identification of
îַæָּøåֹú
with
îַæָּìåֹú
, 2Ki_23:5), or the twenty-eight stations (Arab. menâzil) of the moon (so A. Weber, in his Abhandlung über die vedischen Nachrichten von den naxatra, oder Mondstationen, 1860), or, finally, any prophetic stars whatever, astra, præsaga, præmonentia (Gesenius, who refers the word to
ðæø
in the Arabic signification).—And guide the Bear (lit., “the she-bear,”
òַéִùׁ
, comp. Job_9:9) together with his [lit., her] young?i.e., the constellation of the Bear with the three stars forming its tail, which are regarded as its children (
áָּðִéí
, in Arab.
áָּðåֹú
); see on Job_9:9. The evening star (vesperus, Vulg.) is far from being intended, and equally so the comparatively unimportant constellation Capella (Eichhorn, Bibliothek, Vol. VII., p. 429).
Job_38:33. Knowest thou the laws of heaven?i.e., the laws which rule the course of the stars, the succession of seasons and periods, annual and diurnal, etc., (comp. Gen_1:14 seq.; Job_8:22).—Or dost thou establish its dominion over the earth?i.e., dost thou ordain and confirm its influence (that of heaven, here personified as a king; comp. Ewald, § 318 a) on earthly destinies.
îִùְׁèָø
, “dominion,” is construed [with
áְּ
] after the analogy of the verbs
îùׁì áְּ
,
øãä áְ
.
ã
. Respecting the Divine control of clouds and lightnings: Job_38:34; Job_38:36. On Job_38:34 b, comp. Job_22:11 b (which is here verbally repeated). On Job_38:35 comp. Psa_104:3; Psa_33:9
