Job 37:10
in Job 37By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
By the breath of God ice is given; And the breadth of the waters is straitened.
KJV
By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
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This verse in Job 37
Commentary
8 notes on this verseBy the breath of God frost is given - The freezing of water, though it is generally allowed to be the effect of cold, and has been carefully examined by the most eminent philosophers, is still involved in much mystery; and is a very proper subject to be produced among the great things which God doeth, and which we cannot comprehend, Job 37:5. Water, when frozen, becomes solid, and increases considerably in bulk. The expansive power in freezing is so great, that, if water be confined in a gun-barrel, it will split the solid metal throughout its whole length.
This site's exposition
He says to the snow
on Job 37:6-13
Snow, rain, ice and wind come under one command: “He says to the snow”, and “By the breath of God the ice is formed”. Gill reads “He seals up the hand of every man” as winter halting labor by God's decree, “so that all men may know His work”.
This site's exposition
By the breath of God
Albert Barnes pictures frost formed on a still night with no tempest, as if God only breathed on the earth. Adam Clarke still found the freezing of water a mystery. He counts it among the great things of verse 5 that men cannot comprehend.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
He attributes this to divine wisdom saying "By the breath of God, ice increases," as if to say: When he causes the wind by blowing, the north wind, which causes the icy chill, arises. "And again," from the breath of God which causes the south …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXVII · Written before 604.
proposed
When God bloweth, the ice congeals. And the waters are again poured forth abundantly. Because, as the Holy Spirit breathed on the hearts of the faithful, and conferred greater miracles of power, benumbing envy grew up the more in the sluggish hearts of the faithless; and the unbelieving multitude became hardened against God, from the same causes, as the humble people softened the obduracy, with which it had bound itself.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
By the breath of God frost is given,....
This is such an instance of the power of God as, if it were not common, would be next to a miracle. In the clouds, the womb where all these watery meteors are conceived, of which he had spoken, ch. xxxvi.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
By the breath of God frost is given - Not by the violent north wind, or by the whirlwind of the south, but God seems to “breathe” in a gentle manner, and the earth is covered with hoary frost. It appears in a still night, when there is no storm or tempest, and descends upon the earth as silently as if it were produced by mere breathing. Frost is congealed or frozen dew. On the formation and cause of dew, see the notes at Job 38:28. The figure is poetical and beautiful. The slight motion of the air, even when the frost appears, seems to be caused by the breathing of God. And the breadth of the waters is straitened - That is, is contracted by the cold; or is frozen over. The waters are “compressed” into a solid mass (במוצק bemûtsaq), or are in a state of “pressure” or “compression” - or so the word used here means. What were before expanded rivers or arms of the sea, are now compressed into solid masses of ice. This, also, is proof of the greatness and power of God, for though the cause was not understood by Elihu, yet there was no doubt that it was produced by his agency. Though the laws by which this occurs are now better understood than they were then, it is no less clearly seen that it is by his agency; and all the light which we obtain in regard to the laws by which these things occur, only serve to exalt our conceptions of the wisdom and greatness of God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Aph Beri The name of the angel who is appointed over the clouds, and he scatters the Omnipresent’s rain cloud.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִנִּשְׁמַת־ | minishmat- | from [the] breath of | H5397 → | 24 times |
| אֵ֥ל | ʾel | God | H410 → | 241 times |
| יִתֶּן־ | yiten- | it gives | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| קָ֑רַח | karach | ice | H7140 → | 7 times |
| וְרֹ֖חַב | verochav | and [the] breadth of | H7341 → | |
| מַ֣יִם | mayim | [the] waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| בְּמוּצָֽק׃ | bemutzak | [is] <in> constraint | H4164 → |
מִנִּשְׁמַת־from [the] breath of
minishmat-H5397 →24 times
אֵ֥לGod
ʾelH410 →241 times
יִתֶּן־it gives
yiten-H5414 →2011 times
קָ֑רַחice
karachH7140 →7 times
וְרֹ֖חַבand [the] breadth of
verochavH7341 →
מַ֣יִם[the] waters
mayimH4325 →581 times
בְּמוּצָֽק׃[is] <in> constraint
bemutzakH4164 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
2 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 78:47He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
it leads to
- Exodus 9:18–34
Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.
- Psalms 105:32–33
He gave them hail for rain, with lightning throughout their land.
- Exodus 9:18–34
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.