1Und Jehova antwortete Hiob aus dem Sturme und sprach: 2Wer ist es, der den Rat verdunkelt mit Worten ohne Erkenntnis? 3Gürte doch wie ein Mann deine Lenden; so will ich dich fragen, und du belehre mich! 4Wo warst du, als ich die Erde gründete? Tue es kund, wenn du Einsicht besitzest! 5Wer hat ihre Maße bestimmt, wenn du es weißt? Oder wer hat über sie die Meßschnur gezogen? 6In was wurden ihre Grundfesten eingesenkt? 7Oder wer hat ihren Eckstein gelegt, als die Morgensterne miteinander jubelten und alle Söhne Gottes jauchzten? 8Und wer hat das Meer mit Toren verschlossen, als es ausbrach, hervorkam aus dem Mutterschoße, 9als ich Gewölk zu seinem Gewande und Wolkendunkel zu seiner Windel machte, 10und ich ihm meine Grenze bestimmte und Riegel und Tore setzte, 11und sprach: Bis hierher sollst du kommen und nicht weiter, und hier sei eine Schranke gesetzt dem Trotze deiner Wellen? - 12Hast du, seitdem du lebst, einem Morgen geboten? Hast du die Morgenröte ihre Stätte wissen lassen, 13daß sie erfasse die Säume der Erde, und die Gesetzlosen von ihr verscheucht werden? 14Sie verwandelt sich wie Siegelton, und alles steht da wie in einem Gewande; 15und den Gesetzlosen wird ihr Licht entzogen, und der erhobene Arm wird zerbrochen. 16Bist du gekommen bis zu den Quellen des Meeres, und hast du die Gründe der Tiefe durchwandelt? 17Wurden dir die Pforten des Todes enthüllt, und sahest du die Pforten des Todesschattens? 18Hast du Einsicht genommen in die Breiten der Erde? Sage an, wenn du es alles weißt! 19Welches ist der Weg zur Wohnung des Lichtes, und die Finsternis, wo ist ihre Stätte? 20daß du sie hinbrächtest zu ihrer Grenze, und daß du der Pfade zu ihrem Hause kundig wärest. 21Du weißt es ja; denn damals wurdest du geboren, und die Zahl deiner Tage ist groß! 22Bist du zu den Vorräten des Schnees gekommen, und hast du gesehen die Vorräte des Hagels, 23die ich aufgespart habe für die Zeit der Bedrängnis, für den Tag des Kampfes und der Schlacht? 24Welches ist der Weg, auf dem das Licht sich verteilt, der Ostwind sich verbreitet über die Erde? 25Wer teilt der Regenflut Kanäle ab und einen Weg dem Donnerstrahle, 26um regnen zu lassen auf ein Land ohne Menschen, auf die Wüste, in welcher kein Mensch ist, 27um zu sättigen die Öde und Verödung, und um hervorsprießen zu lassen die Triebe des Grases? 28Hat der Regen einen Vater, oder wer zeugt die Tropfen des Taues? 29Aus wessen Schoße kommt das Eis hervor, und des Himmels Reif, wer gebiert ihn? 30Wie das Gestein verdichten sich die Wasser, und die Fläche der Tiefe schließt sich zusammen. 31Kannst du knüpfen das Gebinde des Siebengestirns, oder lösen die Fesseln des Orion? 32Kannst du die Bilder des Tierkreises hervortreten lassen zu ihrer Zeit, und den großen Bären leiten samt seinen Kindern? 33Kennst du die Gesetze des Himmels, oder bestimmst du seine Herrschaft über die Erde? 34Kannst du deine Stimme zum Gewölk erheben, daß eine Menge Wassers dich bedecke? 35Kannst du Blitze entsenden, daß sie hinfahren, daß sie zu dir sagen: Hier sind wir? - 36Wer hat Weisheit in die Nieren gelegt, oder wer hat dem Geiste Verstand gegeben? 37Wer zählt die Wolken mit Weisheit, und des Himmels Schläuche, wer gießt sie aus, 38wenn der Staub zu dichtem Gusse zusammenfließt und die Schollen aneinander kleben? 39Erjagst du der Löwin den Raub, und stillst du die Gier der jungen Löwen, 40wenn sie in den Höhlen kauern, im Dickicht auf der Lauer sitzen? 41Wer bereitet dem Raben seine Speise, wenn seine Jungen zu Gott schreien, umherirren ohne Nahrung?
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 (Job 38:1-41)
Jehovah appears unexpectedly in a whirlwind (already gathering
Job 37:1-
Job 37:2), the symbol of "judgment" (
Ps 50:3-
Ps 50:4, &c.), to which Job had challenged Him. He asks him now to get himself ready for the contest. Can he explain the phenomena of God's natural government? How can he, then, hope to understand the principles of His moral government? God thus confirms Elihu's sentiment, that submission to, not reasonings on, God's ways is man's part. This and the disciplinary design of trial to the godly is the great lesson of this book. He does not solve the difficulty by reference to future retribution: for this was not the immediate question; glimpses of that truth were already given in the fourteenth and nineteenth chapters, the full revelation of it being reserved for Gospel times. Yet even now we need to learn the lesson taught by Elihu and God in Job.
2 this--Job.
counsel--impugning My divine wisdom in the providential arrangements of the universe. Such "words" (including those of the friends) rather obscure, than throw light on My ways. God is about to be Job's Vindicator, but must first bring him to a right state of mind for receiving relief.
3 a man--hero, ready for battle (
1Cor 16:13), as he had wished (
Job 9:35;
Job 13:22;
Job 31:37). The robe, usually worn flowing, was girt up by a girdle when men ran, labored, or fought (
1Pet 1:13).
4 To understand the cause of things, man should have been present at their origin. The finite creature cannot fathom the infinite wisdom of the Creator (
Job 28:12;
Job 15:7-
Job 15:8).
hast--"knowest."
understanding-- (
Pro 4:1).
5 measures--of its proportions. Image from an architect's plans of a building.
line--of measurement (
Isa 28:17). The earth is formed on an all-wise plan.
6 foundations--not "sockets," as Margin.
fastened--literally, "made to sink," as a foundation-stone let down till it settles firmly in the clay (
Job 26:7). Gravitation makes and keeps the earth a sphere.
7 So at the founding of Zerubbabel's temple (
Ezra 3:10-
Ezra 3:13). So hereafter at the completion of the Church, the temple of the Holy Ghost (
Zech 4:7); as at its foundation (
Luke 2:13-
Luke 2:14).
morning stars--especially beautiful. The creation morn is appropriately associated with these, it being the commencement of this world's day. The stars are figuratively said to sing God's praises, as in
Ps 19:1;
Ps 148:3. They are symbols of the angels, bearing the same relation to our earth, as angels do to us. Therefore they answer to "sons of God," or angels, in the parallel. See on
Job 25:5.
8 doors--floodgates; these when opened caused the flood (
Gen 8:2); or else, the shores.
womb--of chaos. The bowels of the earth. Image from childbirth (
Job 38:8-
Job 38:9;
Ezek 32:2;
Mic 4:10). Ocean at its birth was wrapped in clouds as its swaddling bands.
10 brake up for--that is, appointed it. Shores are generally broken and abrupt cliffs. The Greek for "shore" means "a broken place." I broke off or measured off for it my limit, that is, the limit which I thought fit (
Job 26:10).
11 stayed--Hebrew, "a limit shall be set to."
12 Passing from creation to phenomena in the existing inanimate world.
Hast thou--as God daily does.
commanded the morning--to rise.
since thy days--since thou hast come into being.
his place--It varies in its place of rising from day to day, and yet it has its place each day according to fixed laws.
13 take hold of the ends, &c.--spread itself over the earth to its utmost bounds in a moment.
wicked--who hate the light, and do their evil works in the dark (
Job 24:13).
shaken out of it--The corners (Hebrew, "wings" or "skirts") of it, as of a garment, are taken hold of by the dayspring, so as to shake off the wicked.
14 Explaining the first clause of
Job 38:13, as
Job 38:15 does the second clause. As the plastic clay presents the various figures impressed on it by a seal, so the earth, which in the dark was void of all form, when illuminated by the dayspring, presents a variety of forms, hills, valleys, &c.
turned--(Hebrew, "turns itself") alludes to the rolling cylinder seal, such as is found in Babylon, which leaves its impressions on the clay, as it is turned about; so the morning light rolling on over the earth.
they stand--The forms of beauty, unfolded by the dawn, stand forth as a garment, in which the earth is clad.
15 their light--by which they work; namely, darkness, which is their day (
Job 24:17), is extinguished by daylight.
high--Rather, "The arm uplifted" for murder or other crime is broken; it falls down suddenly, powerless, through their fear of light.
16 springs--fountains beneath the sea (
Ps 95:4-
Ps 95:5).
search--Rather, "the inmost recesses"; literally, "that which is only found by searching," the deep caverns of ocean.
17 seen--The second clause heightens the thought in the first. Man during life does not even "see" the gates of the realm of the dead ("death,"
Job 10:21); much less are they "opened" to him. But those are "naked before God" (
Job 26:6).
18 Hast thou--as God doth (
Job 28:24).
19 The marvels in heaven. "What is the way (to the place wherein) light dwelleth?" The origin of light and darkness. In
Gen 1:3-
Gen 1:5,
Gen 1:14-
Gen 1:18, "light" is created distinct from, and previous to, light-emitting bodies, the luminaries of heaven.
20 Dost thou know its place so well as to be able to guide, ("take" as in
Isa 36:17) it to (but UMBREIT, "reach it in") its own boundary, that is, the limit between light and darkness (
Job 26:10)?
21 Or without the interrogation, in an ironical sense [UMBREIT].
then--when I created light and darkness (
Job 15:7).
22 treasures--storehouses, from which God draws forth snow and hail. Snow is vapor congealed in the air before it is collected in drops large enough to form hail. Its shape is that of a crystal in endless variety of beautiful figures. Hail is formed by rain falling through dry cold air.
23 against the time of trouble--the time when I design to chastise men (
Exod 9:18;
Josh 10:11;
Rev 16:21;
Isa 28:17;
Ps 18:12-
Ps 18:13;
Hag 2:17).
24 is . . . parted--parts, so as to diffuse itself over the whole earth, though seeming to come from one point. Light travels from the sun to the earth, ninety millions of miles, in eight minutes.
which scattereth--rather, "And by what way the east wind (personified) spreads (scattereth) itself." The light and east wind are associated together, as both come from one quarter, and often arise together (
Jonah 4:8).
25 waters--Rain falls, not in a mass on one spot, but in countless separate canals in the air marked out for them.
way for the lightning-- (
Job 28:26).
26 Since rain fails also on places uninhabited by man, it cannot be that man guides its course. Such rain, though man cannot explain the reason for it, is not lost. God has some wise design in it.
27 As though the desolate ground thirsted for God's showers. Personification. The beauty imparted to the uninhabited desert pleases God, for whom primarily all things exist, and He has ulterior designs in it.
28 Can any visible origin of rain and dew be assigned by man? Dew is moisture, which was suspended in the air, but becomes condensed on reaching the--in the night--lower temperature of objects on the earth.
29 Job 37:10.
30 The unfrozen waters are hid under the frozen, as with a covering of stone.
frozen--literally, "is taken"; the particles take hold of one another so as to cohere.
31 sweet influences--the joy diffused by spring, the time when the Pleiades appear. The Eastern poets, Hafiz, Sadi, &c., describe them as "brilliant rosettes." GESENIUS translates: "bands" or "knot," which answers better the parallelism. But English Version agrees better with the Hebrew. The seven stars are closely "bound" together (see on
Job 9:9). "Canst thou bind or loose the tie?" "Canst thou loose the bonds by which the constellation Orion (represented in the East as an impious giant chained to the sky) is held fast?" (See on
Job 9:9).
32 Canst thou bring forth from their places or houses (Mazzaloth,
2Kgs 23:5, Margin; to which Mazzaroth here is equivalent) into the sky the signs of the Zodiac at their respective seasons--the twelve lodgings in which the sun successively stays, or appears, in the sky?
Arcturus--Ursa Major.
his sons?--the three stars in his tail. Canst thou make them appear in the sky? (
Job 9:9). The great and less Bear are called by the Arabs "Daughters of the Bier," the quadrangle being the bier, the three others the mourners.
33 ordinances--which regulate the alternations of seasons, &c. (
Gen 8:22).
dominion--controlling influence of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, &c., on the earth (on the tides, weather) (
Gen 1:16;
Ps 136:7-
Ps 136:9).
34 Jer 14:22; above
Job 22:11, metaphorically.
35 Here we are--at thy disposal (
Isa 6:8).
36 inward parts . . . heart--But "dark clouds" ("shining phenomena") [UMBREIT]; "meteor" [MAURER], referring to the consultation of these as signs of weather by the husbandman (
Eccl 11:4). But Hebrew supports English Version. The connection is, "Who hath given thee the intelligence to comprehend in any degree the phenomena just specified?"
heart--not the usual Hebrew word, but one from a root "to view"; perception.
37 Who appoints by his wisdom the due measure of the clouds?
stay--rather, "empty"; literally, "lay down" or "incline" so as to pour out.
bottles of heaven--rain-filled clouds.
38 groweth, &c.--rather, pour itself into a mass by the rain, like molten metal; then translate
Job 38:38, "Who is it that empties," &c., "when," &c.? The English Version, however, is tenable: "Is caked into a mass" by heat, like molten metal, before the rain falls; "Who is it that can empty the rain vessels, and bring down rain at such a time?" (
Job 38:38).
39 At Job 38:39-39:30, the instincts of animals. Is it thou that givest it the instinct to hunt its prey? (
Ps 104:21).
appetite--literally, "life," which depends on the appetite" (
Job 33:20).
40 lie in wait?--for their prey (
Ps 10:9).
41 Luke 12:24. Transition from the noble lioness to the croaking raven. Though man dislikes it, as of ill omen, God cares for it, as for all His creatures.