Job 37

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Job 37

1 At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.

2 Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.

3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

4 After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.

5 God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

6 For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.

7 He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.

8 Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.

9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.

10 By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.

11 Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:

12 And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.

13 He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

15 Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?

16 Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?

17 How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?

18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?

19 Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.

20 Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.

21 And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.

22 Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty.

23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

24 Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>and spring Heb. ויתר, and spring, like (Lev. 11:21) “to hop (לנתר) with them upon the earth.” And this means that his heart is astonished.</html>

Verse 2

<html>Hear attentively the noise of His voice The thunders that He thunders in the sky are like a sound that emanates from His mouth.</html>

Verse 3

<html>Beneath the entire heaven I have seen it Heb. ישרהו, I have seen it, like (Num. 24:17), “I behold it (אשורנו).” They are the lights illuminated by the lightnings.</html>

Verse 4

<html>In its wake [i.e., in the wake] of that light, the thunder roars, and it thunders with the voice of its pride. Those are the lightnings and the thunders, which bring the rain. and He will not cut them off The Omnipresent [will not cut off the thunder and the lightning]. for…will be heard before Him the voice of the one who prays. He will…cut them off Heb. יעקבם, He will cut them off, [and in the language of the Mishnah we learned (Sotah 16a): in three instances, the halachah supplants (עוקבת) the text].</html>

Verse 6

<html>For He says to the snow through these voices. ‘Be upon the earth’; likewise to the shower of rain and to the showers of His mighty rain That is to say that it comes from the four directions.</html>

Verse 7

<html>By the hand of every man he seals When a man sins before Him, the man himself signs his signature on the day of his death to the sins that he committed, which are written before him. so that every man should know his deed to let him know for what he is being judged.</html>

Verse 8

<html>The beasts go into ambush That is to say that the Omnipresent has many more agents through which to mete out His punishments: the inciting of wild beasts, the tempest, and the cold.</html>

Verse 9

<html>and from Mezarim There is a treasury, named Mezarim.</html>

Verse 10

<html>From the breath of By His wind. and the breadth of the waters in a good When they are poured out in retribution.</html>

Verse 11

<html>Aph Beri The name of the angel who is appointed over the clouds, and he scatters the Omnipresent’s rain cloud.</html>

Verse 12

<html>And he who is thus appointed. turns around in circuits by His guidance [i.e., by the guidance] of the Omnipresent. for their work namely, of the rains; for the work which is incumbent upon them to do, either good or evil, he is turned about with many circuits, as [the passage] that we learned (Rosh Hashanah 17b): if Israel were perfectly righteous on Rosh Hashanah so that [much] rain was decreed for them, and they should later become sinful—it would be impossible to decrease it [the amount of rain] because the decree would already have gone forth; but the Holy One, blessed be He, would let it come down out of its season and upon a land that did not require it. “And sometimes to do good”; how is this? etc. whatever He commands them Those rains, to do on earth. [Another explanation: And he turns around in circuits with His guidance—He causes the clouds and the winds to encompass the mountains so that they should be watered from all sides. In the Aggadah of “Vehayah ekev” (Sifrei Ekev 39).]</html>

Verse 13

<html>Whether for the rod Whether for the punishment of men, He lets them fall on mountains and hills, which are not places for sowing. whether for His land To let them fall as originally decreed, neither for the rod nor within the boundary of justice [i.e., for more benefit than strict justice warrants], but midway between [these two extremes]. or for kindness If the generation became more righteous than they were on Rosh Hashanah, then the rain which was decreed to fall in an average manner, shall be turned about by the guidance of their circuits to fall, with kindness, in their season and upon the land that requires them, so that not a drop of them should go to waste. that He cause it to come The rain, in one of these ways.</html>

Verse 15

<html>how God places the law of the covenant upon them, how they are suspended by His decree.</html>

Verse 16

<html>the revelations of the clouds Heb. מפלשי, the revelation of the clouds, an expression of an open (מפלש) alley, i.e., to the length and the width of the clouds. Do you know concerning them, the wonders of Him Who is perfect in knowledge?</html>

Verse 17

<html>How your garments are warm How your garments are warm when He silences the earth from the south wind, so that it should not kill the world with cold, because the east wind warms it. As it is stated (Jonah 4:8): “a stilling east wind,” which quiets all other winds before it.</html>

Verse 18

<html>strong the skies. as a molten mirror Like a mirror into which women look. [molten tristre, which is very strong.]</html>

Verse 19

<html>Let us know what we shall say to Him To the Holy One, blessed be He, when we contend with Him. We will not be able to set up a case with Him because of the darkness which conceals and surrounds Him.</html>

Verse 20

<html>Need it be told to Him when I speak Is He like mortals, that He must be told what we are saying? or need a man tell utter with his mouth. what is kept a secret so that it should be revealed to Him immediately, like (II Sam. 17:16), “lest the king be told secretly (יבלע)” [lest] it be revealed. But our Sages (Meg. 18a) explained: Can all His praise be told Him, that I should speak That we should speak of Him and His might? Has any man said to tell them all, he would surely be destroyed from his place.</html>

Verse 21

<html>And now, they did not see the rain At the conclusion of his words, Elihu returns to chide Job’s three companions for not finding an answer. He therefore says, “And now, these three companions of yours, who should have answered you all these things that I said to you…” did not see the rain” They are like stillborn babies, who did not see wisdom. it is [like] bright [clouds] in the skies It is like many bright clouds that appear in the skies to bring down rain, but the wind comes and clears them away, makes them pass away, and no rain falls. That is their analogy; they began to answer you, but at the end, they remained silent and did not answer.</html>

Verse 22

<html>Gold[en splendor] comes from the north It is as though he is returning to his previous statements. [“And now, they did not see the rain.”] Another explanation: The homily of the Sages (Taanith 7b) is that when the sky is full of spots, [i.e., full] of many clouds, to cause rain to fall, a wind passes and cleanses them away, and no rain falls. This is a homily of the Sages, but it does not fit the sequence of the verses. Gold comes from the north The north wind blows and drives away the rain. Then the sun shines, like (Zech. 4:12), “that empty out the gold[en oil] from themselves.” on God From before Him. (Gold comes from the north The good gold is hidden for those who bring themselves to the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He, and believe in the very awesome God.)</html>

Verse 23

<html>We have not found the Almighty great in power to arouse His judgments upon the creatures with the greatness of His power, but with clemency. He makes atonements for the creatures with small things, according to their ability: a handful of [fine flour from] a meal offering, a half shekel, turtle doves and young pigeons, cattle and flocks; and He did not burden them to seek a wild ox or an antelope. and with judgment Sufferings. He does not afflict the creatures excessively. Likewise, He does nor afflict them to [force them into] becoming overly righteous to an impossible extent, but each man according to his ability.</html>

Verse 24

<html>Therefore, men fear Him to debate with Him. (because) He does not look upon any wise of heart who want to deal wisely with Him, because their wisdom is as nothing in His eyes. Our Sages (Rosh Hashanah 17a) explained this as referring to Job. Elihu says to him, “Because you would impose excessive fear upon your generation, you did not merit having wise-hearted sons remain alive to you.”</html>

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Table of Contents

Job 37

Job 37

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24