Bible Commentary

Job 38:8

Job 38:8

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain

he has as it were with a compass drawn a line upon the face of it; he has broke up for it its decreed place, and set bars, and doors, and bounds to its waves, that they, nay come no further than is his pleasure, as is observed in the same place; the bounds he hath compassed it with are the shores, rocks, and cliffs, so that the waters cannot return and cover earth, as they once did; yea, which is very surprising, he has placed the sand, as weak and fluid as it is, the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree; so that though its waves toss and roar, they cannot prevail, nor pass over it; which must be owing to the almighty power and sovereign will of God, who has given the sea a decree that its waters should not pass his commandment; and it must be ascribed to his promise and oath that the waters no more go over the earth to destroy it; see Pr 8:27; until the dark and night come to an end; that is, as long as there will be the vicissitudes of day and night, till time shall be no more, as long as the world stands; for the those shall constitute so long are the ordinances of God, which shall never depart, and the covenant he has made, which shall never become void; wherefore, as long as they remain, the sea and its waters will be bounded as not to overflow the earth, ; or "until the end of light with darkness" ; until both these have an end in the same form and manner they now have; otherwise, after the end of all things, there will be light in heaven, and darkness in hell.

Aben Ezra interprets it thus,"unto the place which is the end of light, for all that is above it is light, and below it the reverse;''he seems to have respect to the place that divides the hemispheres, where when one is light the other is dark; and so others seem to understand it of such places or parts of the world as are half day and half night, and where one half of the year is light, and the other dark; but the first sense is best.

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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 38:4-11Job 38:4-11 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleFor the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance even concerning the earth and the sea. Though so near, though so bulky, yet he could give no account of their origination, much less of heaven above or…Job 38:4-15Job 38:4-15 · The Pulpit CommentaryJehovah to Job: the first answer-the examination: 1. Concerning the creation. I. THE CREATION OF THE EARTH THE HANDIWORK OF GOD. 1. An exclusively Divine work. Jehovah claims not simply to have been the Framer of the…