Job 11:9
in Job 11Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, And broader than the sea.
KJV
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
⋯
This verse in Job 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verseHe is higher than heaven, what canst thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst thou know? His measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. In that God is set forth as 'higher than heaven,' 'deeper than hell,' 'longer than the earth,' and 'broader than the sea,' this must be understood in a spiritual sense, inasmuch as it is impious to conceive any thing concerning Him after the proportions of body. Now He is 'higher than heaven,' in that He transcends all things by the Incomprehensibility of His spiritual Nature.
This site's exposition
the deep things of God
on Job 11:7-9
Zophar asks, "Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?", a true doctrine of God's greatness. The whirlwind speeches later ask harder questions of the same kind to open Job up, so the difference lies in Zophar's use of the truth.
This site's exposition
longer than the earth and wider than the sea
The earth and the sea were the longest measures an ancient reader knew, as Barnes observes. Chrysostom draws the lesson that a creature so small stands as far from God as heaven from earth. Job replies at Job 12:3 that everyone knows such things.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
He means either, "Can you do anything similar?" or "You are a humble creature in the universe, and consequently you can do nothing; and you are as far from God as 'heaven is removed from earth.' "
The Medieval Church1 voice
One should also not be surprised if the Creator is not known if creatures are not perfectly understood, because even if creatures were perfectly known, the Creator would still not be. For a cause can only be perfectly known through its effects when the effects …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The measure thereof is longer than the earth - The measure of the knowledge of God. The extent of the earth would be one of the longest measures known to the ancients. Yet it is now impossible to ascertain what ideas were attached, in the time of Job, to the extent of the earth - and it is not necessary to know this in order to understand this expression. It is morally certain that the prevailing ideas were very limited, and that a small part of the earth was then known.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲרֻכָּ֣ה | ʾarukah | [is] long | H752 → | |
| מֵאֶ֣רֶץ | meeretz | more than [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִדָּ֑הּ | midah | measure its | H4055 → | |
| וּ֝רְחָבָ֗ה | urechavah | and broad | H7342 → | |
| מִנִּי־ | mini- | more than | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| יָֽם׃ | yam | [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
אֲרֻכָּ֣ה[is] long
ʾarukahH752 →
מֵאֶ֣רֶץmore than [the] earth
meeretzH776 →2504 times
מִדָּ֑הּmeasure its
midahH4055 →
וּ֝רְחָבָ֗הand broad
urechavahH7342 →
מִנִּי־more than
mini-H4480 →1188 times
יָֽם׃[the] sea
yamH3220 →396 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book X; John Chrysostom, Commentary on Job; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 11:8A; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.