Job 38:37 BSB — MannaFest

Job 38:37

Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,

KJV

Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

⋯

Commentary

1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

Who can number the clouds in wisdom?.... Or has such wisdom as to be able to count them when the heavens are full of them; hence they are used to denote a great multitude, Isa 55:8; or "declare" them (t), set forth and explain the nature of them, their matter, motion, and use; none can do this perfectly or completely. Aben Ezra interprets it, who can make them as sapphire? in which he is followed by Mr. Broughton and others (u); the sapphire is a precious stone, very clear and lucid, of a sky colour.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Who can number the clouds? - The word here rendered “clouds” (שׁחקים shachaqiym) is applied to the clouds as made up of “small particles” - as if they were composed of fine dust, and hence, the word number is applied to them, not as meaning that the clouds themselves were innumerable, but that no one could estimate the number of particles which enter into their formation. In wisdom - By his wisdom. Who has sufficient intelligence to do it?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

8 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
מִֽי־	mi-	who?	H4310 →
יְסַפֵּ֣ר	ye.sa.Per	will he count	H5608 →
שְׁחָקִ֣ים	she.cha.Kim	[the] clouds	H7834 →
בְּחָכְמָ֑ה	be.cha.khe.Mah	by wisdom	H2451 →
וְנִבְלֵ֥י	ve.niv.Lei	and [the] waterskins of	H5035 →
שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם	Sha.Ma.yim	heaven	H8064 →
מִ֣י	mi	who?	H4310 →
יַשְׁכִּֽיב׃	yash.Kiv	will he make to lie down	H7901 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.
leads to
- Genesis 30:22
  Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
- Genesis 19:29
  So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.
- Psalms 136:23
  He remembered us in our low estate His loving devotion endures forever.
- Exodus 2:24
  So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- 1 Samuel 1:19
  The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered…
Through
Genesis 15:5
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
leads to
- Hebrews 11:12
  And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- Romans 4:18
  Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
Through
Psalms 147:4
He determines the number of the stars; He calls them each by name.
leads to
- Isaiah 40:26
  Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one…

Featured studies on this passage

On Job 38:37

The Question of Suffering — Job 1–42

Open the study →

Walks through Job 38

Ezra's Questions God Answers

Open the study →

Walks through Job 38

Mazzaroth

Twelve constellation groupings; one biblical word (Job 38:32). Bullinger and Seiss read them as a gospel-arc; modern critics trace their figures to Albumazar, not Adam. The objections below are presented at full strength, and the founder's own slot on the page is his to fill.

Open the study →

The Star of Bethlehem — Edward Burne-Jones

Walks through Job 38

The Stars

Open the study →

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Job: the study guide →Read chapter 38 →The featured study →

Continue: Job 38 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Job

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Job