Job 38:20

38:12-24 The Lord questions Job, to convince him of his ignorance, and shame him for his folly in prescribing to God. If we thus try ourselves, we shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in comparison with what we know not. By the tender mercy of our God, the Day-spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness, whose hearts are turned to it as clay to the seal, 2Co 4:6. God's way in the government of the world is said to be in the sea; this means, that it is hid from us. Let us make sure that the gates of heaven shall be opened to us on the other side of death, and then we need not fear the opening of the gates of death. It is presumptuous for us, who perceive not the breadth of the earth, to dive into the depth of God's counsels. We should neither in the brightest noon count upon perpetual day, nor in the darkest midnight despair of the return of the morning; and this applies to our inward as well as to our outward condition. What folly it is to strive against God! How much is it our interest to seek peace with him, and to keep in his love!

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,.... Either darkness, or rather the light; take it as it were by the hand, and guide and direct its course to its utmost bound. This only the Lord can do and does: he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which goes forth at his command as a strong man to run a race; whose going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: in which his course is so steered and directed by the Lord, that he never misses his way or errs from it; but keeps his path exactly, as well as knows its rising and setting, its utmost bounds; and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? from whence it sets out, and whither it returns; see Psalm 19:4. And so the light and darkness of prosperity and adversity, as well as natural light and darkness, are of God, at his disposal, and bounded by him, and therefore his will should be submitted to; which is the doctrine the Lord would teach Job by all this.

Job 38:20 . That thou shouldest take it — That is, bring, or lead it, namely, principally the light, and secondarily the darkness, as the consequent of it, to the bound thereof? — That is, through its whole course, from the place of its abode, whence it is supposed to come, to the end of the journey which it is to go. Didst thou direct or guide the light, or the sun, that it should at first take, and afterward constantly continue in that course which now it holds; that it should go from east to west, and rise, sometimes in one point or part of heaven, and sometimes in another; and that its day’s journey should be longer in one season of the year and shorter in another? This regular and excellent course must needs be the effect of great wisdom. And whose wisdom was it? Thine or mine? And that thou shouldest know — Namely, practically so as to direct or lead it in the manner now expressed, the paths to the house thereof? — Where thou mayest find it, and whence thou mayest fetch it.

20 . take it to the bound thereof ] The second clause, the path to its house, suggests that the bound or border of light is not the furthest limit to which it flows forth, but its own place of abode, the bound between it and darkness, from which it issues. Job is asked if he knows the way to the dwelling-place of light and darkness, so that he might take them back to the place of their abode.

Verse 20. - That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof . Can Job "take" light and darkness, and lead them to their proper places, and make them observe their proper "bounds," as God can ( Genesis 1:4 )? And that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof (comp. ver. 19). Job 38:20

That thou shouldest take it, i.e. taking, bring or lead it, as this verb is oft used, as Exodus 25:2 Psalm 68:29 , compared with Ephesians 4:11 1 Kings 3:24 17:10 Hosea 14:2 . And many other such pregnant verbs there are in the Hebrew language, having the signification of two verbs included in one, And this it refers principally to the light , and secondarily to darkness, as the consequent of the other. To the bound thereof, i.e. its whole course, from the place of its abode whence it is supposed to come, to the end of its journey which it is to go. Didst thou direct or guide the light or the sun, that he should at first take, and afterward constantly continue, in that course which now it holds; that it should go from east to west, and rise sometimes in one point or part of the heaven, and sometimes in another, and that its day’s journey should be longer in one season of the year, and shorter in another? This regular and excellent course must needs be the effect of great wisdom. And whose wisdom was it? thine or mine? That thou shouldest know, to wit, practically, so as to direct or lead it in the manner now expressed. The paths to the house thereof; where thou mayst find it, and whence thou mayst fetch it.

That thou shouldest take it to the bounds thereof - Margin, "or, at." The sense seems to be this: God asks Job whether he was so well acquainted with the sources of light, and the place where it dwelt, that he could take it under his guidance and reconduct it to its place of abode. And that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? - The same idea is repeated here. Light has a home; a place of abode. It was far distant - in some region unknown to man. Did Job know the way in which it came, and the place where it dwelt so well, that he could conduct it back again to its own dwelling? Umbreit, Noyes, and Herder, suppose that this is to be understood ironically. "For thou hast reached its boundaries! For then knowest the path to its dwelling!" But it has been commonly regarded as a question, and thus understood it accords better with the connection.

16 Hast thou reached the fountains of the sea, And hast thou gone into the foundation of the deep? 17 Were the gates of death unveiled to thee, And didst thou see the gates of the realm of shades? 18 Hast thou comprehended the breadth of the earth? Speak, in so far as thou knowest all this! 19 Which is the way to where the light dwelleth, And darkness, where is its place, 20 That thou mightest bring it to its bound, And that thou mightest know the paths of its house? 21 Thou knowest it, for then wast thou born, And the number of thy days is great! - The root נב has the primary notion of obtruding itself upon the senses (vid., Genesis, S. 635), whence נבך in Arabic of a rising country that pleases the eye (nabaka, a hill, a hillside), and here (cognate in root and meaning נבע, Syr. Talmud. נבג, Arab. nbg, nbṭ, scatuirire) of gushing and bubbling water. Hitzig's conjecture, approved by Olsh., נבלי, sets aside a word that is perfectly clear so far as the language is concerned. On חקר vid., on Job 11:7. The question put to Job in Job 38:17, he must, according to his own confession, Job 26:6, answer in the negative.

In order to avoid the collision of two aspirates, the interrogative ה is wanting before התבּננתּ, Ew. 324, b; התבנן עד signifies, according to Job 32:12, to observe anything carefully; the meaning of the question therefore is, whether Job has given special attention to the breadth of the earth, and whether he consequently has a comprehensive and thorough knowledge of it. כּלּהּ refers not to the earth (Hahn, Olsh., and others), but, as neuter, to the preceding points of interrogation. The questions, Job 38:19, refer to the principles of light and darkness, i.e., their final causes, whence they come forth as cosmical phenomena. ישׁכּן־אור is a relative clause, Ges. 123, 3, c; the noun that governs (the Regens) this virtual genitive, which ought in Arabic to be without the art. as being determined by the regens, is, according to the Hebrew syntax, which is freer in this respect, הדּרך (comp. Ges. 110, 2). That which is said of the bound of darkness, i.e., the furthest point at which darkness passes away, and the paths to its house, applies also to the light, which the poet perhaps has even prominently (comp. Job 24:13) before his mind: light and darkness have a first cause which is inaccessible to man, and beyond his power of searching out. The admission in Job 38:21 is ironical: Verily!