Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Job 38:16 - 38:27

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Job 38:16 - 38:27


(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)

This Chapter Verse Commentaries:



God's Majesty in the Forces of NatuRev. 16. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea, the great fountains of the deep, Genesis 7, 11? Or hast thou walked in the search of the depth, to examine the ocean's bottom and discover its secrets?

v. 17. Have the gates of death been opened unto thee,
so that Job was familiar with the realm of the dead? Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death, so that he could examine them and bring back the knowledge which is beyond death?

v. 18. Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth,
observing and examining it to its very limits? Declare if thou knowest it all; for God knows all this, and he who would criticize God should have the same understanding.

v. 19. Where is the way where light dwelleth?
Could Job explain the phenomenon of light and tell where it originally came from? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

v. 20. that thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,
tracing both light and darkness to the place where they originated, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? In spite of the most careful investigations the secrets connected with light and darkness have not been revealed.

v. 21. Knowest thou it because thou wast then born?
Was Job present at the creation of light, so that he understood all its secrets, or because the number of thy days is great? In a sharply ironical veil the Lord reminds Job of the fact that he is not eternal and therefore could not possess the information to which reference is here made.

v. 22. Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?
Did Job have access to the immense storehouses from which it came in such immeasurable quantities? Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

v. 23. which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
for seasons of distress upon mankind, against the day of battle and war? For both snow and hail sometimes serve the purposes of the divine government in the world.

v. 24. By what way is the light parted,
that is, what road leads there, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth? Both the light and the east wind defy the calculation of men in the swiftness of their changes and in many other points connected with their phenomena.

v. 25. Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters,
conducting the rain-torrents through the thick masses of cloud to such portions of the earth as the Lord intended to moisten, or a way for the lightning of thunder,

v. 26. to cause it to rain on the earth where no man is,
in uninhabited regions, where human beings have no interests; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man, none to be personally interested, God's providence alone having such a wide range of vision;

v. 27. to satisfy the desolate and waste ground,
the wilderness being thought of as a parched wanderer, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? Not only in inhabited districts of the world does God exhibit His providential care, but also in such about which the average person never or rarely thinks: so much greater is He than mere man.