Job 38:18
in Job 38Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hast thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou knowest it all.
KJV
Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
⋯
This verse in Job 38
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHast thou considered the breadth of the earth? For whilst the Lord sought the narrowness of death, He spread abroad His faith in the nations, and extended Holy Church to numberless hearts of believers. To whom it is said by the Prophet, Enlarge the place of thy tent, and extend the curtains of thy tabernacles; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes: for thou shalt penetrate to the right hand and to the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles.
This site's exposition
the vents of the sea
on Job 38:16-18
The questions move from sky to deep, asking whether Job has reached “the vents of the sea”. Clarke reads the paired “gates of death” and of “the shadow of death” as deliberate. The deep and the grave are both closed to a man who complains he cannot see God's reasons.
This site's exposition
the extent of the earth
Clarke notes that the earth was then thought to be a vast plain bordered by the sea and the heavens, its full extent unknown. Henry adds that Job had never sailed around the earth. He could tell nothing of its extent.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He continues about the diversity of heat and cold around the earth saying, "Have you considered the expanse of the earth?" Consider here that according to the astronomers the longitude of the earth is from East to West, and the latitude of the earth from …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is but a point to the universe? yet, small as it is, we cannot be exact in declaring the dimensions of it. Job had never sailed round the world, nor any before him; so little did men know the breadth of the earth that it was but a few ages ago that the vast continent of America was discovered, which had, time out of mind, lain hidden.
Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The breadth of the earth? - At that time the circumference of the globe was not known, because the earth itself was supposed to be a vast extended plain, bordered all round with the ocean and the sky.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? - How far the earth extends. To see the force of this, we must remember that the early conception of the earth was that it was a vast plain, and that in the time of Job its limits were unknown. One of the earliest and most obvious inquiries would naturally be, What was the extent of the earth? By what was it bounded? And what was the character of the regions beyond those which were then known? All this was hidden from man at that time, and God, therefore, asks with emphasis whether Job had been able to determine this great inquiry. The knowledge of this is put on the same foundation as that of the depths of the sea, and of the dark regions of the dead, and in the time of Job the one was as much unknown as the other. God, who knew all this, must, therefore, be infinitely exalted above man.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִ֭תְבֹּנַנְתָּ | hitbonanta | have you shown yourself attentive? | H995 → | 170 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| רַחֲבֵי־ | rachavei- | [the] broad spaces of | H7338 → | |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַ֝גֵּ֗ד | haged | tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יָדַ֥עְתָּ | yada'ta | you know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כֻלָּֽהּ׃ | khulah | all of it | H3605 → | 5413 times |
הִ֭תְבֹּנַנְתָּhave you shown yourself attentive?
hitbonantaH995 →170 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
רַחֲבֵי־[the] broad spaces of
rachavei-H7338 →
אָ֑רֶץ[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
הַ֝גֵּ֗דtell
hagedH5046 →370 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יָדַ֥עְתָּyou know
yada'taH3045 →945 times
כֻלָּֽהּ׃all of it
khulahH3605 →5413 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
Isaiah 40:28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
it leads to
- Romans 11:33–34
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Psalms 147:5
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.
- 1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Isaiah 55:8–9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
- Romans 11:33–34
Through
Revelation 20:9And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 38:16
You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations…
- Ezekiel 39:6
I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD.
- Ezekiel 38:16
Through
Jeremiah 31:37This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 33:24–26
“Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation.
- Jeremiah 33:24–26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIX; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.