Bible Commentary

Job 38:33

Job 38:33

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public Domain

Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? i.e. the physical laws by which the course of nature is governed (comp. , ; ). The general prevalence of law in the material world is quite as strongly asserted by the sacred writers as by modern science.

The difference is that modern science regards the laws as physical necessities, self-subsisting, while Scripture looks upon them as the ordinances of the Divine will. This latter view involves, of course, the further result that the Divine will can at any time suspend or reverse any of its enactments.

Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? If Job does not even know the laws whereby the world is governed, much less can he establish such laws himself, and make them work.

The Daily Devotional

One devotional. Every morning.

The full reading, the passage behind it, and where to go deeper — in your inbox before the day starts. No ads, ever.

We'll send one email to confirm it's really you. Unsubscribe in one tap, any time.

Continue tomorrow

Turn Bible study into a daily habit

Read today's devotional, save your progress, and receive a gentle daily reminder.

Recommended reading

More for Job 38:33

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

Job 38 — OverviewJob 38 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleIn most disputes the strife is who shall have the last word. Job's friends had, in this controversy, tamely yielded it to Job, and then he to Elihu. But, after all the wranglings of the counsel at bar, the…Job 38 — OverviewJob 38 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeJob 38:1, God challenges Job to answer; Job 38:4, God, by his mighty works, convinces Job of ignorance, Job 38:31, and of imbecility.Job 38 — OverviewJob 38 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleIn this chapter the Lord takes up the controversy with Job; calls upon him to prepare to engage with him in it, and demands an answer to posing questions he puts to him, concerning the earth and the fabric of itJob 38:1-41Job 38:1-41 · The Pulpit CommentaryCLOSE OF THE CONTROVERSY BY THE INTERFERENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY. EXPOSITION The discourse, by which the Almighty answers Job and rebukes his "friends," occupies four chapters (ch. 38-41.). It is broken into two parts by…Job 38:25-41Job 38:25-41 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleHitherto God had put such questions to Job as were proper to convince him of his ignorance and short-sightedness. Now he comes, in the same manner, to show his impotency and weakness. As it is but little that he…Job 38:31-41Job 38:31-41 · The Pulpit CommentaryJehovah to Job: the first answer-the examination: 5. Concerning four worlds. I. THE WORLD OF STARS. Jehovah invites Job to reflect upon his own impotence, and therefore also inferentially upon his (i.e. Jehovah's)…