Job 38:4

The first division of the discourse THE COMPREHENSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S MORAL GOVERNMENT DISPLAYED BY JOB JUSTIFIES THE PROPOUNDING OF SOME QUESTIONS AS TO THE PHYSICAL AND SEEMINGLY INANIMATE WORLD, IN THE MIDST OF WHICH MAN HAS BEEN PLACED, WITH THE HIGH ENDOWMENTS OF WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING, Job 38:4-38.

First long strophe THE VASTNESS OF JOB’S KNOWLEDGE MUST EMBRACE THE PROCESS OF THE CREATION OF EARTH, SEA, AND LIGHT, Job 38:4-15.

“All true knowledge is genetic.” Hitzig. He who claims insight into that which is, must know how it came to be, for nature ( natura) is a perpetual birth. This first long strophe treats of the wonder-working of Omnipotence. Each of the minor strophes consists of four verses, the fourth verse of each, according to Schlottmann, forming a climax in the thought.

a. Job is summoned to explain the founding of the earth; the laying out of its architectural proportion; and even so simple and yet glorious a matter as the laying of its corner-stone, Job 38:4-7.

4. Laid the foundations When I founded the earth (a more exact rendering) better harmonizes with the wonderful scientific disclosure of Job 26:7.