Job 37:13
in Job 37Whether for punishment or for His land, He accomplishes this in His loving devotion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whether it be for correction, or for his land, Or for lovingkindness, that he cause it to come.
KJV
He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
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This verse in Job 37
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhether in one tribe, or in His own land, or in whatsoever place of His mercy He shall order them to be found. The one tribe of Judah is certainly meant, which is mentioned in Holy Scripture plainly and repeatedly above the rest. For it received a special gift above them all, in that it brought forth from itself the flesh of our Redeemer.
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
Whether for punishment or for His land
The Hebrew for punishment is a rod, says Albert Barnes. Matthew Henry recalls that rain once destroyed the whole world and still spoils harvests in correction. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read His land as the inhabited earth, set against the empty places of Job 38:26-27.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Since he had above said, "wherever the will of the governor leads them," (v.12) he explains this saying, "on one tribe," because clouds sometimes appear in one region and not in another, as Amos says, "I have rained on one city and do not on …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Earth - The whole earth, which is said to be the Lord's, Psalm xxiv, 1; l, 12, and so this may denote a general judgment by excessive rains inflicted upon the earth, and all its inhabitants, even the universal deluge, which came in great measure out of the clouds. Mercy - For the benefit of mankind and for the cooling of the air and improving the fruits of the earth.
He causeth it to come,....
(1.) Rain sometimes turns into a judgment. It is a scourge to a sinful land; as once it was for the destruction of the whole world, so it is now often for the correction or discipline of some parts of it, by hindering seedness and harvest, raising the waters, and damaging the fruits.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He causeth it to come - That is, the rain, or the storm. It is entirely under the hand of God, like the lightning Job 36:30, and designed to accomplish his purposes of mercy and of justice. Whether for correction - Margin, as in Hebrew “a rod.” The rod is often used as an emblem of punishment. The idea is, that God, when he pleases, can send the rain upon the earth for the purpose of executing punishment.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
UMBREIT for "watering," &c., translates; "Brightness drives away the clouds, His light scattereth the thick clouds"; the parallelism is thus good, but the Hebrew hardly sanctions it.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Literally, "He maketh it (the rain-cloud) find place," whether for correction, if (it be destined) for His land (that is, for the part inhabited by man, with whom God deals, as opposed to the parts uninhabited, on which rain is at other times appointed to fall, Job 38:26, 27) or for mercy. "If it be destined for His land" is a parenthetical supposition [MAURER].
He causeth it to come - The Vulgate translates the text thus: Sive in una tribu, sine in terra sua, sive in quocunque loco misericordiae suae eas jusserit inveniri. “Whether in one tribe, or whether in his own land, or in whatsoever place of his mercy he has commanded them to come.” In the preceding verse it is said that God conducts the clouds according to the orders of his counsels, whithersoever he pleases: and here it is added that, when he designs to heap favors upon any land, he commands the clouds to go thither, and pour out on it their fertilizing showers. See Calmet. The Vulgate certainly gives a good sense, and our common version is also clear and intelligble; but there are doubts whether the Hebrew will bear this meaning. Here it is stated that God sends the rain either for correction, לשבט leshebet, which signifies rod, staff, tribe, and is here taken as the symbol of correction, he sends rain sometimes as a judgment, inundating certain lands, and sweeping away their produce by irresistible floods: or for his land, לארצו leartso, his own land, Palestine, the place of his favored people: or for mercy, לחסד lechesed; when a particular district has been devoured by locusts, or cursed with drought, God, in his mercy, sends fertilizing rains to such places to restore the ears which the caterpillars have eaten, and to make the desert blossom like the garden of the Lord. Some think that Job refers to the curse brought upon the old world by the waters of the deluge. Now although God has promised that there shall no more be a flood of waters to destroy the whole earth; yet we know he can, very consistently with his promise, inundate any particular district; or, by a superabundance of rain, render the toil of the husbandman in any place vain. Therefore, still his rain may come for judgment, for mercy, or for the especial help of his people or Church.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Whether for the rod Whether for the punishment of men, He lets them fall on mountains and hills, which are not places for sowing.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | whether | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לְשֵׁ֥בֶט | leshevet | for a rod | H7626 → | 190 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לְאַרְצ֑וֹ | leartzo | for earth his | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לְ֝חֶ֗סֶד | lechesed | for covenant loyalty | H2617 → | 247 times |
| יַמְצִאֵֽהוּ׃ | yamtziehu | he makes find it | H4672 → | 455 times |
אִם־whether
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לְשֵׁ֥בֶטfor a rod
leshevetH7626 →190 times
אִם־or
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לְאַרְצ֑וֹfor earth his
leartzoH776 →2504 times
אִם־or
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לְ֝חֶ֗סֶדfor covenant loyalty
lechesedH2617 →247 times
יַמְצִאֵֽהוּ׃he makes find it
yamtziehuH4672 →455 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Job 36:31For by these He judges the nations and provides food in abundance.
it leads to
- Psalms 136:25
He gives food to every creature. His loving devotion endures forever.
- Acts 14:17
Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
- Psalms 104:13–15
He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.
- Psalms 104:27–28
All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.
- Psalms 65:9–13
You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.
- Psalms 136:25
Through
Job 37:6For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’
it leads to
- Job 36:27
For He draws up drops of water which distill the rain from the mist,
- Job 38:22
Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
- Psalms 147:16–18
He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;
- Job 36:27
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.