Job 38

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Job 38

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?

14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.

15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.

16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?

22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?

36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,

40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>from the tempest Heb. מן הסערה. Count your hairs and I will give you as many answers. From the tempest with which you reproached Me (above 9:17), “He Who would crush me with a tempest,” I will answer you, as you will hear at the end of the chapter (verse 25), “Who has separated a place for the hair?” a shaft for every hair. Another explanation: With a tempest He afflicted him, and with a tempest He healed him, as is explained in Sifrei(?).</html>

Verse 2

<html>who gives dark counsel Dark and foolish counsel. Another explanation: Who is this who gives dark counsel…without knowledge? Said the Holy One, blessed be He: Who is this who darkens counsel, frustrates words, i.e., with a multiplicity of words; for I wrote: “and that man was sincere and upright,” at the beginning of the Book, in order that My name should rest on Him, but he came and darkened and frustrated what I counseled with his many words. Whereupon Job replies to Him (below 42:3): “Who is this Who hides counsel?” Had I known Your counsel, I would not have spoken so much. Then the Holy One blessed be He, answers him, “Neither did Abraham know; yet he passed ten” [tests]. So I found.</html>

Verse 3

<html>Now gird your loins like a man He intimated to him that he should arouse himself from his illness and his sufferings.</html>

Verse 4

<html>Where Heb. אֵי פֹה, lit. where here.</html>

Verse 5

<html>its measures Heb. מְמַדֶיהָ [like] מִדוֹתֶיהָ.</html>

Verse 6

<html>laid its cornerstone in the middle of the sea, whence the entire world was founded. Where were you?</html>

Verse 7

<html>When…sing together from the beginning the stars of light.</html>

Verse 8

<html>the sea with doors The sand, which is its boundary. when it broke forth Heb. בגיחו, when it broke forth from the deep, like (Ps. 22:10), “that You drew me (גחי) forth from the womb”; drew me forth.</html>

Verse 9

<html>When I made the cloud around the ocean, which encompasses the world, and clouds encompass it like raiment. its wrapping Heb. חתלתו, its wrapping, like (Ezek. 16:4), “nor were you swaddled (והחתל לא חתלת).”</html>

Verse 10

<html>and broke I made breaks in it [the sea] all around to keep it back within them, and they are its boundary, which it shall not pass, as in (Josh 7:5), “and they pursued them until the quarries (השברים)” which are the ditches around the city.</html>

Verse 12

Verse 13

<html>To grasp the corners of the earth Moreover, in all your days, did you command [anyone] to grasp the corners of the earth like a man who grasps the corners of a garment and shakes it? So am I destined to grasp it [the earth] by its corners and shake the wicked [out of it]. Likewise, Scripture states (Isa. 31:3): “and the Lord shall turn His hand, and the helper shall stumble,” like a person who, holding something in his hand, drops it by inclining his hand.</html>

Verse 14

<html>changes in formation. The seal…like clay The cast of man’s countenance [changes] when he dies, and at the resurrection of the dead they will live again, and they will stand up in their clothing.</html>

Verse 15

<html>And…shall be withheld then from the wicked their light, and the high arm shall be broken.</html>

Verse 16

<html>the locks of the sea Heb. נבכי, like (Ex. 14:3), “They are trapped (נבכים) in the land.”</html>

Verse 17

<html>the gates of death This is Gehinnom.</html>

Verse 21

<html>You knew all this. for then you were born when I created (them).</html>

Verse 23

<html>That I saved I withheld. for a time of trouble For the five kings in Gibeon. for a day of battle The war of Gog and Magog.</html>

Verse 24

<html>is the light parted The irradiation of the sun, which diverges this way and that way like the horns of a hind. the eastern one The sun of the east.</html>

Verse 25

<html>Who has separated a place for the hair Heb. לטשף. In Arabia, a hair is called שִׁיטְפָא. To every hair on the head I have given תְעָלָה, a separate shaft from which to draw sap. If two would draw from the same shaft, a person’s eyesight would fail. These have not been changed by Me, how then should I change אִיוֹב, Job, for אוֹיֵב, enemy? And this is the meaning of מן הסערה, from the hair. Another explanation: לַשֶטֶף a streaming raindrop. I set apart for each drop a hole in the clouds, for if they were to come down [together] from one opening, they would soften the earth and turn it into a mire. and a way for the cloud of the thunderclaps who parted? Every thunderclap has its own path, and if two of them would go along one path, the creatures would not be able to bear the sound.</html>

Verse 27

<html>darkness A land that is dark because of hunger.</html>

Verse 28

<html>waves of dew Heb. אגלי, waves of גלי, dew, and the “aleph” is superfluous, as in (above 13: 17), “and to my speech (ואחותי) in your ears.” The “aleph” is superfluous at the beginning of the word because it is a noun, and similarly (Ezek. 21:20), “the scream of (אבחת) the sword,” like נבוח, barking, the scream of the sword. Another explanation: is like אַגְנֵי, basins of dew. A type of basins, divisions in which the dew is deposited. The “lammed” is interchangeable with a “nun,” and so in the Book of Ezra (Neh. 13:7), chamber (נִשְׁכָּה) like לִשְׁכָּה.</html>

Verse 29

<html>and the frost glass or glassa in Old French.</html>

Verse 30

<html>Like a stone…hides because of the ice that congeals in drops upon their faces. and the face of the deep is caught and held together by it.</html>

Verse 31

<html>the chains of the Pleiades [Tie] the chains of the Pleiades so that all its cold should not go forth and destroy the world with cold. or loose the straps of Orion to bring out its heat, to mitigate the cold of the Pleiades.</html>

Verse 32

<html>constellations All the other constellations. and…Ayish The largest star in the Pleiades, to which many stars are attached. He took two stars from it to open the windows of the Deluge, and they were placed in the constellation of Aries and the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to restore them to her. Tanchuma.</html>

Verse 33

<html>his dominion The dominion of the constellations appointed to bring upon the earth cold and heat, summer and winter.</html>

Verse 34

<html>Can you lift up your voice to the cloud to command it to tie up with the darkness of water so that an abundance of water cover you? That is the darkening of clouds, like (above 22:11), “or darkness so that you do not see.” [or] will an abundance of water from Heaven cover you by your commands.</html>

Verse 35

<html>and say to you in the place where they were sent, ‘Here we are; we have performed our errand,’ because they need not return to their place to reply to their Sender, for the Shechinah is everywhere.</html>

Verse 36

<html>in the inward parts These are the reins. the rooster Heb. לשכוי. This is the rooster in the language of the Sages (Rosh Hashanah 26a). And some say: This is the heart, which looks (שוכה), watches, and considers the coming events.</html>

Verse 37

<html>charges Heb. יספר, will speak and charge with their mission. the bottles Made like bottles in which the rains are collected, as in (I Sam. 1:24), “and an earthenware jug (ונבל) of wine.”</html>

Verse 38

<html>When the dust was poured On the day that I poured the dust. into a mass for the foundation of the world, into its midst. and the clods cleaved together around it on all sides, until its length and width were filled.</html>

Verse 40

<html>they crouch They stand crouching to lie in wait. to lie in wait so is the habit of those who lie in wait, to crouch and to stoop themselves so that they will not be recognized.</html>

Verse 41

<html>they wander for lack of food for their own fathers hate them, and the Holy One, blessed be He, prepares gnats for them, which are created from their dung, and they enter their mouths.</html>

Table of Contents

Job 38

Job 38

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 21

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35

Verse 36

Verse 37

Verse 38

Verse 40

Verse 41