Job 38:1–42:6
Sources
Reformed ConsensusReformation Study BibleGeneva Bible Notes (1599)John Trapp (1647)John Gill (1748)Matthew Henry (1714)Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBarnes (1832)Cross-References (TSK)Reformed Consensus
In the whirlwind speeches of Job 38–41, God does not answer Job's legal challenge with a defense of His actions but rather with a thunderous counter-interrogation designed to expose the creaturely limits of Job's knowledge, demonstrating — as Calvin insists — that the finite creature has no standing to arraign the infinite Creator before any tribunal. The divine speeches are not a silencing by sheer power but a *reductio* by wisdom: God surveys the foundations of the earth, the ordinances of the heavens, and the untameable wildness of Behemoth and Leviathan precisely to show that a world too vast and too intricate for Job to comprehend is nonetheless governed by a single provident hand. Matthew Henry rightly observes that God here vindicates not only His sovereignty but His wisdom, reminding Job that the same inscrutable counsel that sustains the cosmos is at work in Job's suffering. Job's two responses (40:3–5; 42:1–6) move from trembling silence to genuine repentance — not repentance for the sin of suffering, as his friends wrongly presumed, but for the sin of speaking without knowledge, the pride of demanding that God render an account. The restoration that follows (42:7–17) thus confirms what the speeches have already established: that true knowledge of God, received in humility before His majesty, is itself the beginning of healing, vindicating the Reformed insistence that right theology — doxological submission to divine sovereignty — is both the remedy for the soul and the foundation of wisdom.
Reformation Study Bible
In His appearance to Job, God does not mention the subject sovereignty of God, whose purpose is always good, of Job's suffering, much less give the reason for it. What the Lord says is far more important than Job's suffering, which the Lord knew He would | The Lord calls on Job to withdraw his accusations against the Almighty by exposing his weakness and foolishness. | the Lor. The divine covenant name is now used again, as in the prologue, showing that the author was an Israelite. Job and the coun- selors use other divine epithets, like “God,” and “the Almighty.’ Job 12:9 is the only place where Job or the counselors use “Yahweh,’ and some manuscripts have “God” even there. Job was evidently not an Israelite. | In this cross-examination of Job, the Lord reveals Himself as sovereign over the natural world. He is Creator (38:4~14) of the earth (wv. 4-7), of the sea (vv. 8-11), and of day and night (wv. 12-15). He is Lord of inanimate nature (38:16-38) and of animate nature (38:39-39:30). | surely you know. The irony here and in vv. 18 and 21 is not sar- casm, but a reminder that God is the Creator. | For the personification of natural forces as God's angels see Ps. 104:4 and Heb. 1:7. | The light of the wicked is darkness (Is. 5:20; Luke 11:35). | the gates of death. The “gates” stand for dominion (Matt. 16:18). The Lord is sovereign over this invisible realm, which no living person has ever seen (17:16). According to the pagan religions of Canaan, the god Mot was ruler of the realm of the dead, but Job knew otherwise (cf. 26:6). | rain... the desert. In a world where rainwater was precious, God impresses on Job his sovereign freedom to do what perplexes those who don't appreciate the distinctions between the sovereign God and them- selves. | bind... Pleiades ... loose the cords of Orion. God alone has dominion over the cosmic forces that constrain the cluster of stars called Pleiades and those making up the belt of the hunter Orion. | the inward parts... the mind, The Hebrew word translated “mind” occurs only here, and its meaning has been in question since the ancient times. If one traditional translation is accepted, the verse asks who gave wisdom to “the ibis” and “the rooster,” birds that were thought hill to announce the coming of the rain and the flooding of the Nile. | Here the questions shift from the inanimate to animate creation: a sampling of God's creatures great and small. | Do you know ... Do you observe... Can you number. God reminds Job of His creative, wise, and sustaining work even in the barren s where man can scarcely live—and of Job's ignorance by contrast. | Who has let the wild donkey go free. This wild creature was great- ly admired for its freedom and its ability to live in “the arid plain” (v. 6). 39:9 Is the wild ox willing to serve you. This now extinct animal was already rare in Palestine in Job's day. They were hunted to extinction by the Egyptians and Assyrians. | she laughs at the horse and his rider. The ostrich is a bird that cannot fly yet runs faster than a horse. Job has complained of paradoxes in his life; God shows hima natural paradoxes that are resolved only in the secret (or revealed) purposes of the self-existent God... - | Do you give the horse his might. Probably this is the war-horse, by reputation the strongest and most intelligent animal. | his eyes behold it from far away. In addition to the mysterious migratory instinct of birds (v, 26), these words speak of the phenomenal eyesight of eagles. | This conclusion of the first speech should be compared with its opening in 38:2. Both are directed toward Job's bold but erroneous utter- ances during his moments of doubt. | Job abandons his obsession with being vindicated. It is. his turn to speak, out he has nothing to say. He is brought low before the Almighty. | The Lord opens His second discourse (40:6, 7) as He did in 38:1-3, but here challenges Job with a new line of reasoning about Job's questioning whether God is just in judging the wicked. In His first speech God revealed Himself as Lord of nature, but here as the Lord of the moral realm. | This section emphasizes God's power over pride and wicked- ness (wv. 11, 12). The monsters in the verses following, Behemoth and Leviathan, probably represent such forces of evil that God can control but before which Job is helpless. | Behemoth. The Hebrew root is used for “cattle,” but the form here implies the meaning “the beast beyond comparison.” Parts of the description, especially v. 19, go beyond any natural creature like the hip- popotamus or the crocodile. Canaanite literature describes the goddess Anat overcoming a terrible bull and a seven-headed “Leviathan.” The Lord's speech indicates that whatever may be the forces suggested by such creatures, they are no more than playthings in comparison with His unfathomable power. | Leviathan. Possibly “Leviathan” and “Behemoth” form a poetic | This fits exactly the lines introducing Behemoth and Leviathan in 40:11, 12. | Appropriately, Job is now more than humbied: he must repent for his rash words doubting God's justice during his deepest suffering. Because of his experience, his repentance is unforced and sincere. | See “Omnipresence and Omnipotence” at Jer. 23:24. | but now my eye sees you. Job could not see physically through the whirlwind out of which God spoke (38:1; 40:6); he expresses a deeper meaning. He knew God with words, but he now experiences His living presence in his inner being. He meets Him as Savior and friend and, above all, God.
Geneva Bible Notes (1599)
Then the LORD answered Job out of the {a} whirlwind, and said, (a) That his words might have greater majesty, and that Job might know with whom he had to do.
John Trapp (1647)
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Then the Lord answered Job — God himself, taking the word out of Elihu’s mouth (who bad spoken well, but lacked majesty to set it forth), became his own patron, et huius disputationis sequester, and decider of this long controversy, vindicating his own authority, and teaching that truth in the four following chapters, which St Paul briefly compriseth in these words, Romans 11:33-34 , "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?" Why then should any one require an account of his proceedings, or question his justice? Job had often desired that God would take knowledge of his cause. His friends also had desired the same, Job 11:5 . Here therefore he appeareth in person, not as out of an engine devised for that purpose, after the manner of some partial tragedy, for the whole narration testifieth that this is a true story of things done indeed, and afterwards faithfully recorded (Beza). Which history is highly to be esteemed as an incomparable treasure, if it were for nothing else, yet for the right knowledge of natural philosophy here laid open, in these four following chapters, together with the chief and principal end thereof, which is, that in these visible creatures we may behold the invisible things of God. Out of the whirlwind — That is, out of a cloud whence issued a whirlwind or a storm, as a testimony of his heavenly majesty, and to procure attention. See the like Deuteronomy 4:12 1 Kings 19:11 Ezekiel 1:4 Nahum 1:9 Hebrews 12:18 . God loves to be acquainted with men in the walks of their obedience, yet he takes state upon him in his ordinances, and will be trembled at in his word and judgments. And said — With much more mildness and moderation than Elihu or any of them had used in reprehending Job, and yet with such plenty and efficacy of words and arguments, Ut facillime omnes omnium orationes superet, that no such oration can anywhere else be read. Well might Lavater say, Hoc postremum colloquium est admodum suave et utile, This conference of God with Job is very sweet and profitable; for it teacheth us, among other things, how gently God dealeth with his offending servants, and how hardly the best are brought to confess their sins, and truly to repent of them.
John Gill (1748)
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,.... As soon as Elihu had done speaking, who saw the tempest rising, and gave hints of it, Job 37:2 ; and hastened to finish his discourse. This was raised to give notice of the Lord being about to appear, and to display his majesty, and to command reverence and attention. The Targum calls it the whirlwind of distress, as it might be to Job; and a representation of the distressed and disturbed state and condition in which he was. The person that spoke out of it is Jehovah the Son of God, the eternal Word, who very probably appeared in an human form; there was an object seen, Job 42:5 ; and spoke with an articulate voice to Job; and said; in answer to his frequent wishes and desires that the Lord would appear and take his cause in hand.
Matthew Henry (1714)
Job had silenced, but had not convinced his friends. Elihu had silenced Job, but had not brought him to admit his guilt before God. It pleased the Lord to interpose. The Lord, in this discourse, humbles Job, and brings him to repent of his passionate expressions concerning God's providential dealings with him; and this he does, by calling upon Job to compare God's being from everlasting to everlasting, with his own time; God's knowledge of all things, with his own ignorance; and God's almighty power, with his own weakness. Our darkening the counsels of God's wisdom with our folly, is a great provocation to God. Humble faith and sincere obedience see farthest and best into the will of the Lord.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
CHAPTER 38 Job 38:1-41. 1. Jehovah appears unexpectedly in a whirlwind (already gathering Job 37:1, 2), the symbol of "judgment" (Ps 50:3, 4, &c.), to which Job had challenged Him. He asks him now to get himself ready for the contest. Can he explain the phenomena of God's natural government? How can he, then, hope to understand the principles of His moral government? God thus confirms Elihu's sentiment, that submission to, not reasonings on, God's ways is man's part. This and the disciplinary design of trial to the godly is the great lesson of this book. He does not solve the difficulty by reference to future retribution: for this was not the immediate question; glimpses of that truth were already given in the fourteenth and nineteenth chapters, the full revelation of it being reserved for Gospel times. Yet even now we need to learn the lesson taught by Elihu and God in Job.The Lord answers Job, Job 38:1-3 : declareth his works of creation; the foundation and the measures of the earth, Job 38:4-6 ; the stars; the sea, and its bounds, Job 38:7-11 ; the morning, and its light, Job 38:12-15 ; the depth of the sea; the gates and shadow of death; the breadth of the earth, Job 38:16-18 ; the place of light and darkness; the treasures of snow and hail for battle, Job 38:19-23 ; the east wind, springs, and rain for the earth, Job 38:24-30 ; the planets, ordinances of heaven, and their dominion on the earth; clouds and lightning, Job 38:31-35 . Wisdom and understanding in the heart of man, and in his works more than we can understand: he feedeth the lion and the raven, Job 38:36-41 . Answered Job, i.e. began to debate the matter with him, as Job had desired. Out of the whirlwind, i.e. out of a dark and thick cloud, from which he sent a terrible and tempestuous wind, as the harbinger of his presence. In this manner God appears and speaks to him, partly, because this was his usual method in those times, as we see, Exodus 19:18 Numbers 9:15 ,16 ; see also 1 Kings 19:11 Ezekiel 1:4 ; partly, to awaken Job and his friends to the more serious and reverent attention to his words; partly, to testify his displeasure, both against Job, and against his three friends; and partly, that all of them night be more deeply and thoroughly humbled and abused within themselves, and prepared the better to receive, and longer to retain, the instructions which God was about to give them.
Barnes (1832)
Then the Lord answered Job - This speech is addressed particularly to Job, not only because he is the principal personage referred to in the book, but particularly because he had indulged in language of murmuring and complaint. God designed to bring him to a proper state of mind before he appeared openly for his vindication. It is the purpose of God, in his dealings with his people, "to bring them to a proper state of mind" before he appears as their vindicator and friend, and hence, their trials are often prolonged, and when he appears, he seems at first to come only to rebuke them. Job had indulged in very improper feelings, and it was needful that those feelings should be subdued before God would manifest himself as his friend, and address him in words of consolation. Out of the whirlwind - The tempest; the storm - probably that which Elihu had seen approaching, Job 37:21-24 . God is often represented as speaking to people in this manner. He spake amidst lightnings and tempests on Mount Sinai Exodus 19:16-19 , and he is frequently represented as appearing amidst the thunders and lightnings of a tempest, as a symbol of his majesty; compare Psalm 18:9-13 ; Habakkuk 3:3-6 . The word here rendered "whirlwind" means rather "a storm, a tempest." The Septuagint renders this verse, "After Elihu had ceased speaking, the Lord spake to Job from a tempest and clouds."
Cross-References (TSK)
Job 37:24; Job 38:2; Job 37:1; Exodus 19:16; Deuteronomy 4:11; Deuteronomy 5:22; 1Kings 19:11; 2Kings 2:1; Ezekiel 1:4; Nahum 1:3; Job 38:1; Job 38:4; Job 38:31; Job 37:14; Job 37:9; Job 40:1; Job 39:24; Job 40:6