job-38:8-11-esv

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

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:8

Who shut up the sea with doors - Who gathered the waters together into one place, and fixed the sea its limits, so that it cannot overpass them to inundate the earth? When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? - This is a very fine metaphor. The sea is represented as a newly born infant issuing from the womb of the void and formless chaos; and the delicate circumstance of the liquor amnii, which bursts out previously to the birth of the foetus, alluded to. The allusion to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:9

When I make the cloud the garment - Alluding to the cloth in which the new-born infant is first received. The cloud was the same to the newly raised vapor, as the above recipient to the new-born child. And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it - Here is also an allusion to the first dressings of the new-born child: it is swathed in order to support the body, too tender to bear even careful handling without some medium between the hand of the nurse and the flesh of the child. "The image,"... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:10

And brake up for it my decreed place - This refers to the decree, Genesis 1:9 ; : "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place." And set bars and doors - And let the dry land appear. This formed the bars and doors of the sea; the land being everywhere a barrier against the encroachments and inundations of the sea; and great rivers, bays, creeks, etc., the doors by which it passes into the interior of continents, etc. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:11

Hitherto shalt thou come - Thus far shall thy flux and reflux extend. The tides are marvellously limited and regulated, not only by the lunar and solar attractions, but by the quantum of time also which is required to remove any part of the earth's surface from under the immediate attractive influence of the sun and moon. And this regulation takes place by means of the rotation of the earth round its own axis, which causes one thousand and forty-two miles of its equator to pass from under... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:1-41

The tone of the appeal is sustained at a high pitch, and the entire passage is one of extraordinary force and eloquence. read more

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

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:11

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:8

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:9

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:10

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:11

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:1-41

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