Job 38:35
in Job 38Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, And say unto thee, Here we are?
KJV
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
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This verse in Job 38
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Canst thou send lightnings? - That is, lightning is wholly under the control of God. So it is now; for after all that man has done to discover its laws, and to guard against it, yet still man has made no advances toward a power to wield it, nor is it possible that he ever should.
This site's exposition
Can you command the clouds
on Job 38:34-36
“Who has put wisdom in the heart” turns the questions inward for the first time, wisdom as a gift placed in the heart. Henry reads the turn as preparing for the living creatures that follow, moving from sky and sea to the wisdom built into life.
This site's exposition
send the lightning bolts on their way
Adam Clarke sets the verse beside the pagan picture of Jupiter gripping lightning in his fist. Here the bolts go out and report back like servants. Albert Barnes observes that for all man has learned of lightning, the power to wield it still lies wholly with God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Up to this point God divides the heavenly realities in terms of those through which he punishes us, as distinguished from those through which he benefits us. Notice how the lightnings answer. They do not really mean, "What do you want?" The text wants to signify that all creatures, as though they were living creatures, bend their ear to God. Every time he wants to show the difference in their formation, God talks about "begetting" and "maternal womb." Every time, on the other hand, he wants to show their docility and perfection, he depicts them as if they bent their ear to his call. Why did he present himself not only as a craftsman but as a father as well? This is because the art that presides over nature is quite superior to any manual art, for it is, so to speak, divine.
The Medieval Church2 voices
He next speaks about the lightning saying, "Will you send the lightning?", that is, will their motion be by your power? "And will it go forth," as though obedient to your command? The movement of the lightning often rebounds from one place to another, and …
Wilt thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee, Here we are? 6. For lightnings come forth from the clouds, just as wonderful works are displayed by holy preachers. Who, as we have often said, are therefore wont to be called 'clouds,' because they flash forth with miracles, and rain with words.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
1 ); but if we lift up our voice to the clouds, to demand it, they will soon tell us they are not at our beck, and we shall go without it, Jer. xiv. The heavens will not her the earth unless God hear them, Hos. ii. See what poor, indigent, depending creatures we are; we cannot do without rain, nor can we have it when we will.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
The sense is, who was it that built this goodly fabrick, and established it so firmly that it cannot be moved. Stars - The angels, who may well be called morning-stars, because of their excellent lustre and glory. Sons of God - The angels called the sons of God, because they had their whole being from him, and because they were made partakers of his Divine and glorious image.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
Why should they, since the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God? God has the stars of heaven under his command and cognizance, but we have them not under ours. Our meditations are now to rise higher, far above the clouds, to the glorious lights above.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"What is the way (to the place wherein) light dwelleth?" The origin of light and darkness. In Ge 1:3-5, 14-18, "light" is created distinct from, and previous to, light-emitting bodies, the luminaries of heaven.
Canst thou send lightnings - We have already seen that the lightning is supposed to be immediately in the hand and under the management of God. The great god of the heathen, Jupiter Brontes, is represented with the forked lightnings and thunderbolt in his hand. He seems so to grasp the bickering flame that, though it struggles for liberty, it cannot escape from his hold. Lightnings - How much like the sound of thunder is the original word: ברכים Berakim! Here are both sense and sound. Here we are? - Will the winged lightnings be thy messengers, as they are mine?
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַֽתְשַׁלַּ֣ח | hatshalach | ¿ will you send forth | H7971 → | 845 times |
| בְּרָקִ֣ים | berakim | lightning<s> | H1300 → | |
| וְיֵלֵ֑כוּ | veyelekhu | so they may go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְיֹאמְר֖וּ | veyomeru | and they may say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְךָ֣ | lekha | to you | ||
| הִנֵּֽנוּ׃ | hinenu | here [are] we | H2005 → | 316 times |
הַֽתְשַׁלַּ֣ח¿ will you send forth
hatshalachH7971 →845 times
בְּרָקִ֣יםlightning<s>
berakimH1300 →
וְיֵלֵ֑כוּso they may go
veyelekhuH1980 →1546 times
וְיֹאמְר֖וּand they may say
veyomeruH559 →5305 times
לְךָ֣to you
lekha
הִנֵּֽנוּ׃here [are] we
hinenuH2005 →316 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 65:1“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I…
it leads to
- Romans 10:20
And Isaiah boldly says: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.”
- Romans 9:24–26
including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?
- 1 Peter 2:10
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
- Ephesians 2:12–13
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
- Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to…
- Romans 10:20
Through
Exodus 9:29Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may…
it leads to
- Psalms 143:6
I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
- Psalms 143:6
Through
Job 37:3He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.
it leads to
- Job 38:13
that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
- Matthew 24:27
For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
- Job 38:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
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); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXX; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 38:35A-B; 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.