Chapter Thirty-Eight

God’s first speech. 1–3. Introduction. 4–41. The wisdom of God in the phenomena of the physical world.

Job 38:1. [When Elihu had finished speaking,] the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, The repeatedly expressed desire of Job to be judged by God (see Job 36:20), his insistent demand that God Himself answer him (Job 31:35), is now being fulfilled. The Lord answers from the whirlwind, that is, in the usual manner indicating His greatness and power. But if Job could answer nothing to Elihu, what will he say now to the Lord?

Job 38:2. “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? The greatness of the one answering is shown in the question: “Who is this that darkens counsel?” God’s relationship to the world and to Job is a plan full of reason (Hebrew “etza”; Synodal “counsel”), but to an unreasonable man they appear as cruel, devoid of true wisdom, arbitrary action (Job 9:1 and following).

Job 38:3. Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you answer Me. Job, who has dared to judge God so, must gather his strength, prepare himself for combat (“gird up your loins,” cf. Job 12:21). And since truth is on God’s side, he will come forth as the defendant, and God will take the position of prosecutor. The trial will proceed in the order desired by Job (Job 13:22). Job 38:4-38. Job’s faith in divine justice wavered, among other things, because of the thought of a cruel, arbitrary relationship of God toward people. Therefore, through a series of questions about the phenomena of the physical world, God wishes to tell him that even visible nature presents a reflection not of wisdom and omnipotence that destroy, but of wisdom and omnipotence that arrange, that introduce harmony and order everywhere. Arbitrariness does not exist and therefore, among other things, some physical phenomena serve the aims of a higher moral world order.

Job 38:4. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Job 38:5. “Who determined its dimensions? Surely you know! Or who stretched the measuring line across it? Job 38:6. “To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, Job 38:7. “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? The beginning of the establishment of harmony and order was laid in the initial construction of the earth, which received, like a building, definite dimensions (“who determined its dimensions?”), a harmonious distribution of parts (“who stretched the measuring line across it?”) and a known position among other bodies in space (verse 6; cf. Job 26:7). The witnesses of the manifestation of this harmony laid in the primordial earth were not people, who had not yet been created, but the morning stars. They first saw the earthly sphere after the primordial darkness was replaced by light, and they first rendered praise to the Creator (cf. Ps 18:2; Sir 43:1). Together with them, the “sons of God” – the angels – shouted with joy, as happens at the laying of a building (Ezra 3:10; Zech 4:7) (Job 1:6).

Job 38:8. “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst forth and issued from the womb, Job 38:9. “When I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, Job 38:10. “When I prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, Job 38:11. “And said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? The introduction of similar harmony accompanied the ordering of the water element. It, having burst forth from the depths of the earth and ready to spread over its surface, was given insurmountable obstacles in the form of shores, beyond which it cannot go.

Job 38:12. “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and assigned the dawn its place, Job 38:13. “That it might take hold of the edges of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? Job 38:14. “It takes on form like clay under a seal, and stands out like a garment, Job 38:15. “And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the raised arm is broken. The regular established order of the alternation of darkness and light is continually maintained (Gen 1:4). Morning comes at its proper time, and its harbinger – the dawn, grasps when it appears with its edges (literally: “wings,” cf. Ps 138:9) the earth on which the night had rested like a coverlet, and by vigorously shaking it, dispels the darkness. The harmonious alternation of physical phenomena serves at the same time the aims of the moral and aesthetic world order. With the coming of light, the dark deeds of the wicked cease (cf. Job 24:13), and the formless earth during the night, with the mass of objects that have lost their features, comes forth in all the splendor of beauty.

Job 38:16. “Have you explored the springs of the sea or walked about on the ocean floor? Job 38:17. “Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Job 38:18. “Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. The law is preserved according to which the sources of the sea, Sheol with its inhabitants, are inaccessible to man, and the breadth of the earth does not submit to measurement.

Job 38:19. “What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Job 38:20. “That you may take it to its territory, and know the paths to its home? Equally, according to laws established by God, light and darkness – separated from each other (cf. Job 26:10), are physical forces introduced into the life of the world.

Job 38:22. “Have you entered the springs of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail, Job 38:23. “Which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? Just as light fulfills not only its natural purpose, but also serves the aims of the higher spiritual world – order (verses 12–13), so likewise the enormous reserves (Hebrew “otzarot” – storehouses) of snow and hail are in the hands of God instruments for the punishment of evil people (Exod 9:17 and following).

Job 38:24. “By what path is light distributed, or the east wind scattered over the earth? The spread of light and the direction of the east, strong (Job 27:21) wind, these two elements analogous in their swiftness, are likewise subject to known laws.

Job 38:25. “Who carved out a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the lightning, Job 38:26. “To water a land where no one lives, a desert with no one in it, Job 38:27. “To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, and to cause the tender grass to spring forth? The laws of all the above-described phenomena are not established by man, and likewise it is not his work, but that of wise Providence, to water with rain uninhabited regions with their vegetation. The goodness of the Lord sustains the existence of His creation – greenery (the lowest form of the plant kingdom; Synodal “tender grass”; Hebrew “deshe,” “greenery”; cf. Gen 1:11-12).

Job 38:28. “Does the rain have a father? Or who gives birth to the drops of dew? To achieve this good purpose, the Lord has at His disposal all the necessary means. He is the father of rain and dew.

Job 38:29. “From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost from the heavens – who gives it birth? Job 38:30. “The waters become hard as stone, and the surface of the deep is frozen. Cf. Job 37:10.

Job 38:31. “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion? The arrangement of the constellations “Chima” – the “Pleiades” and “Kesil” – the “Orion” rests on the principles of strict harmony. The first consists of 64 main stars, of which only six are visible to the naked eye. Close to one another, they form one group and seem to be connected by the tightest bonds. Orion is a constellation of 78 stars, forming a vast parallelogram, located half in one hemisphere, half in another. To unite the stars of the Pleiades, like separating the two parts of the parallelogram of Orion, is beyond the power of man.

Job 38:32. “Can you bring out the Mazzaroth in its season or lead out the Bear with her cubs? The same regular lawfulness is observed in the movement of the constellation “Mazzaroth.” According to some, by “Mazzaroth” is meant Venus, Jupiter, or Mars, and the expression “bring out... in its season” indicates their periodic appearances. Others (Delitzsch, Lange) understand by “Mazzaroth” the twelve signs of the zodiac. With the latter understanding, the above-mentioned expression receives the following sense: can you for each month bring out a definite sign of the zodiac so that it be visible before and after the sunset. The LXX reading “μασουρώθ” is the Hebrew name of the constellation left without translation. “Ath” is the Great Bear; her children are three stars forming the tail of the constellation.

Job 38:33. “Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish their dominion over the earth? Not only the constellations mentioned, but all heaven in general – its bodies are subject to definite laws, and besides, are in a certain relationship with the earth – exert influence upon it (cf. Gen 1:14). Thanks to this, the two spheres are brought into harmony.

Job 38:34. “Can you raise your voice to the clouds, that a flood of water may cover you? Job 38:35. “Can you send forth lightning, and will it go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? One of the manifestations of such a relationship is the fall of rain on the earth at a determined time (cf. Job 37:6) and the appearance of lightning (the expression: “here we are,” cf. Bar 3:35).

Job 38:36. “Who has put wisdom in the heart, or who has given understanding to the mind? The Hebrew reading of this verse presents two expressions understood differently: “Batuchot” and “sekvi,” depending on which the whole verse is translated unequally. Some exegetes ascribe to the first the meaning: “kidneys” (cf. Ps 50:8), and the second, deriving from “saka” (“to observe”), they translate by the word “rooster” (Targum, Vulgate, Delitzsch, and others). In accordance with this the verse reads as follows: “Who has put wisdom in the kidneys (of man) and who gave the rooster understanding?” Others (Umbreit, Ghan, Dillmann, Lange) derive “tuchot” from the Arabic “taha” – “cloud,” and ascribe to “sekvi” the meaning “thing which is seen,” “phenomenon,” “meteor.” With such a derivation, this verse should read: “Who has put wisdom in the clouds and who has given understanding to meteors?” In opposition to Delitzsch’s reading, as well as to the Synodal, the latter is in complete agreement with the context. The sky with its clouds and meteors, God wishes to say to Job, obeys in its actions not blind force, but performs the commandments of God. The Greco-Slavonic: “who has given to women the weaving of wisdom or the skill to dye with cunning”; has no basis in the original text.

Job 38:37. “Who can number the clouds by wisdom, or pour out the bottles of heaven, Job 38:38. “When the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick together? As performers of God’s commandments, the clouds “are numbered with wisdom,” that is, at a known time they appear in a known number. According to need, their quantity is neither more nor less than required. That same God who numbers “the clouds,” who “pours water from the heavens,” – sends rain, which turns soil made dusty by heat into earth suitable for cultivation.

Job 38:39. “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, Job 39:30. From the wondrous works of God in the world of inanimate nature, Job should have understood that it bears traces of strict order, a lawful plan. The facts noted subsequently from the life of animals give understanding that the omnipotence of God is joined with benevolence. Animals are the subject of special care and concern of the Lord. The instincts of reproduction and nutrition implanted in their nature sustain the being and strength of creatures and the characteristics of their kind.

Job 38:39. “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, Job 38:40. “When they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their lairs? Job 38:41. “Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for food, wandering about for lack of food? The goodness of God protects the life of both the mightiest representatives of the animal kingdom – the lions and their young, and the weak – the young ravens. The lioness and young lions, obeying the predatory instinct implanted in their nature, themselves hunt (“crouch in their lairs”) the prey appointed to them by God (cf. Ps 103:21); the young ravens also find themselves food. The latter, both here and in parallel passages (Ps 146:9; Luke 12:24), are presented as the subject of special divine protection, perhaps because more than other birds they stand out by their harsh, almost unceasing cry.