Job 37:22
in Job 37Out of the north He comes in golden splendor; awesome majesty surrounds Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Out of the north cometh golden splendor: God hath upon him terrible majesty.
KJV
Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty.
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This verse in Job 37
Commentary
10 notes on this verseGold will come from the north. And from God fearful praise. What is designated by the 'north,' but the Gentile world, fast bound in the cold of sin? Which he held under the yoke of his tyranny, who proudly said, I will sit in the mount of the covenant, in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. [Is. 14, 13. 14.] And what is expressed by 'gold,' but faithful souls?
This site's exposition
Teach us what we should say to Him
on Job 37:19-22
Elihu confesses his speech has failed, “Teach us what we should say to Him”. The older commentators divide over “Out of the north He comes in golden splendor”. Delitzsch and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the verse sits just before the Lord answers Job out of the whirlwind.
This site's exposition
He comes in golden splendor
Adam Clarke gives the Hebrew as from the north comes gold, as nearly every version reads it. Calmet notes that gold then came from the north. Matthew Henry hears awesome majesty as praise that strikes fear.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Sometimes shiny objects are discovered in dark places. The Northern region is called dark because of its distance from the sun, and yet much gold is discovered in Northern regions which is one of the most glittering metals. This is caused by heat withdrawing deep …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
North - From the northern winds which scatter the clouds, and clear the sky. Elihu concludes with some short, but great sayings, concerning the glory of God. He speaks abruptly and in haste, because it should seem, he perceived God was approaching, and presumed he was about to take the work into his own hands.
Fair weather cometh out of the north,....
He observes, (1.) That with God is terrible majesty. He is a God of glory and such transcendent perfection as cannot but strike an awe upon all his attendants and a terror upon all his adversaries. With God is terrible praise (so some), for he is fearful in praises, Exod. xv.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Fair weather cometh out of the north - Is this any version of the original מצפון זהב יאתה mitstsaphon zahab yeetheh? which is rendered by almost every version, ancient and modern, thus, or to this effect: “From the north cometh gold.” Calmet justly remarks, that in the time of Moses, Job, and Solomon, and for a long time after, gold was obtained from Colchis, Armenia, Phasis, and the land of Ophir, which were all north of Judea and Idumea; and are in the Scriptures ordinarily termed the north country. “But what relation can there be between, Gold cometh out of the north, and, With God is terrible majesty?” Answer: Each thing has its properties, and proper characteristics, which distinguish it; and each country has its advantages.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But God cannot be "found out," because of His "Majesty" (Job 37:23). Thus the twenty-eighth chapter corresponds; English Version is simpler. the north--Brightness is chiefly associated with it (see on Job 23:9).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Fair weather - Margin, “gold,” The Hebrew word (זהב zâhâb) properly means “gold,” and is so rendered by the Vulgate, the Syriac, and by most versions. The Septuagint renders it, νέψη χρυσαυγουντα nepsē chrusaugounta, “clouds shining like gold.” The Chaldee, אסתניא, the north wind, Boreas. Many expositors have endeavored to show that gold was found in the northern regions (see Schultens, in loc.); and it is not difficult so to establish that fact as to be a confirmation of what is here said, on the supposition that it refers literally to gold. But it is difficult to see why Elihu should here make a reference to the source where gold was found, or how such a reference should be connected with the description of the approaching tempest, and the light which was already seen on the opening clouds. It seems probable to me that the idea is wholly different and that Elihu means to say that a bright, dazzling light was seen in the northern sky like burnished gold, which was a fit symbol of the approaching Deity. This idea is hinted at in the Septuagint, but it has not seemed to occur to expositors. The image is that of the heavens darkened with the tempest, the lightnings playing, the thunder rolling, and then the wind seeming to brush away the clouds in the north, and disclosing in the opening a bright, dazzling appearance like burnished gold, that bespoke the approach of God. The word is never used in the sense of “fair weather.” An ancient Greek tragedian, mentioned by Grotius, speaks of golden air - χρυσωπός αἰθήρ chrusōpos aithēr. Varro also uses a similar expression - aurescit aer, “the air becomes like gold.” So Thomson, in his Seasons: But yonder comes the powerful king of day Rejoicing in the east. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֭צָּפוֹן | mitzafon | from [the] north | H6828 → | |
| זָהָ֣ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| יֶֽאֱתֶ֑ה | yeeteh | it comes | H857 → | 21 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [is] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּ | ʾeloah | God | H433 → | 57 times |
| נ֣וֹרָא | nora' | awesome of | H3372 → | 315 times |
| הֽוֹד׃ | hod | majesty | H1935 → | 24 times |
מִ֭צָּפוֹןfrom [the] north
mitzafonH6828 →
זָהָ֣בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
יֶֽאֱתֶ֑הit comes
yeetehH857 →21 times
עַל־[is] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּGod
ʾeloahH433 →57 times
נ֣וֹרָאawesome of
nora'H3372 →315 times
הֽוֹד׃majesty
hodH1935 →24 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
Jude 1:25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Revelation 5:13–14
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to…
- 1 Timothy 1:17
Through
Hebrews 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Deuteronomy 9:3
But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate…
- Isaiah 66:15
For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- Hebrews 10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
- Deuteronomy 4:24
Through
Psalms 104:1Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty.
it leads to
- Psalms 93:1
The LORD reigns! He is robed in majesty; the LORD has clothed and armed Himself with strength. The world indeed is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 93:1
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, 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 XXVII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.