Job 37:6
in Job 37For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he saith to the snow, Fall thou on the earth; Likewise to the shower of rain, And to the showers of his mighty rain.
KJV
For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
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This verse in Job 37
Commentary
8 notes on this verseWho ordereth the snow to descend on the earth, and the rains of the winter, and the showers of His strength. Because the Psalmist says, Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow; [Ps. 51, 7] what do we understand by snow in this place, but the hearts of the Saints made white by the light of righteousness? But waters are taken up, and congealed above, in order to become snow. But when this snow descends to the earth, it is changed again into liquid waters.
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”.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He begins to list them and says, "he who commands the snow," by the voice of his wisdom, "to fall on the earth," because the snows are formed by his command, as are the rains and showers, and so he says, "and to winter rains," …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For he saith to the snow, be thou on the earth,.... In the original it is, be thou earth: hence one of the Rabbins formed a notion, that the earth was created from snow under the throne of glory, which is justly censured by Maimonides (f); for there is a defect of the letter ב, as in 2Ch 34:30; as Aben Ezra observes; and therefore rightly supplied by us, on the earth. This is one of the great and incomprehensible things of God.
Saying and doing are not two things with God, though they are with us. When he speaks the word the small rain distils and the great rain pours down as he pleases-- the winter-rain (so the LXX.), for in those countries, when the winter was past, the rain was over and gone, Cant. ii.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Be--more forcible than "fall," as UMBREIT translates Ge 1:3. to the small rain, &c.--He saith, Be on the earth. The shower increasing from "small" to "great," is expressed by the plural "showers" (Margin), following the singular "shower." Winter rain (So 2:11).
For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth - Snow is generally defined, “A well-known meteor, formed by the freezing of the vapours in the atmosphere.” We may consider the formation of snow thus: - A cloud of vapours being condensed into drops, these drops, becoming too heavy to be suspended in the atmosphere, descend; and, meeting with a cold region of the air, they are frozen, each drop shooting into several points.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For he saith to the snow - That is, the snow is produced by the command of God, and is a proof of his wisdom and greatness. The idea is, that; the formation of snow was an illustration of the wisdom of God, and should teach people to regard him with reverence. It is not to be supposed that the laws by which snow is formed in the atmosphere were understood in the time of Elihu. The fact that it seemed to be the effect of the immediate creation of God, was the principal idea in the mind of Elihu in illustrating his wisdom. But it is not less fitted to excite our admiration of his wisdom now that the laws by which it is produced are better understood; and in fact the knowledge of those laws is adapted to elevate our conceptions of the wisdom and majesty of Him who formed them. The investigations and discoveries of science do not diminish the proofs of the Creator’s wisdom and greatness. but every new discovery tends to change blind admiration to intelligent devotion; to transform wonder to praise. On the formation of snow, see the notes at Job 38:22. Be thou on the earth - There is a strong resemblance between this passage and the sublime command in Gen 1:3, “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” Each of them is expressive of the creative power of God, and of the ease with which he accomplishes his purposes. Likewise to the small rain - Margin, “and to the shower of rain, and to the showers of rain of his strength.” The word which is used here in the Hebrew (גשׁם geshem), means “rain” in general, and the phrase “small rain” ( גשׁם ( מטר mâṭâr geshem), seems to be used to denote the “rain” simply, without reference to its violence, or to its being copious. The following phrase, “the great rain of his strength” (עזוּ מטרות גשׁם geshem mâṭârôt ‛ôzû) refers to the rain when it has increased to a copious shower. […]
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לַשֶּׁ֨לַג׀ | lashelag | to the snow | H7950 → | 20 times |
| יֹאמַ֗ר | yomar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֱוֵ֫א | heve' | fall | H1933 → | |
| אָ֥רֶץ | ʾaretz | earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְגֶ֥שֶׁם | vegeshem | and [the] shower of | H1653 → | |
| מָטָ֑ר | matar | rain | H4306 → | 38 times |
| וְ֝גֶ֗שֶׁם | vegeshem | and [the] shower of | H1653 → | |
| מִטְר֥וֹת | mitrot | [the] rains of | H4306 → | 38 times |
| עֻזּֽוֹ׃ | uzo | strength his | H5797 → | 92 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לַשֶּׁ֨לַג׀to the snow
lashelagH7950 →20 times
יֹאמַ֗רhe says
yomarH559 →5305 times
הֱוֵ֫אfall
heve'H1933 →
אָ֥רֶץearth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
וְגֶ֥שֶׁםand [the] shower of
vegeshemH1653 →
מָטָ֑רrain
matarH4306 →38 times
וְ֝גֶ֗שֶׁםand [the] shower of
vegeshemH1653 →
מִטְר֥וֹת[the] rains of
mitrotH4306 →38 times
עֻזּֽוֹ׃strength his
uzoH5797 →92 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
Ezekiel 13:13Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury.
it leads to
- Psalms 148:8
lightning and hail, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling His word,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 30:30
And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.
- Psalms 148:8
Through
Amos 9:6He builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is…
it leads to
- Amos 5:8
He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD…
- Psalms 104:3
laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.
- Amos 4:13
For behold, He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind and reveals His thoughts to man, who turns the dawn to darkness and strides on the heights of the earth—the LORD, the God…
- Psalms 104:13
He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.
- Amos 5:8
Through
Job 38:22Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
it leads to
- Psalms 135:7
He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
- Psalms 33:7
He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses.
- Psalms 135:7
About Job
This page draws on 9 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.