Job 38:1

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,.... As soon as Elihu had done speaking, who saw the tempest rising, and gave hints of it, Job 37:2; and hastened to finish his discourse.

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Yahweh appears unexpectedly in a whirlwind (already gathering, Job 37:1-2), the symbol of "judgment" (Psalms 50:3-4, etc.), to which Job had challenged Him.

JOB CHAPTER 38 The Lord answers Job, : declareth his works of creation; the foundation and the measures of the earth, ; the stars; the sea, and its bounds, ; the morning, and its light, ; the depth of the sea; the gates and shadow of death; the breadth of the earth, ; the place of light and darkness; the treasures of snow and hail for battle, ; the east wind, springs, and rain for the earth, ; the planets, ordinances of heaven, and their dominion on the earth; clouds and lightning, . Wisdom and understanding in the heart of man, and in his works more than we can understand: he feedeth the lion and the raven, . Answered Job, i.e. began to debate the matter with him, as Job had desired. Out of the whirlwind, i.e. out of a dark and thick cloud, from which he sent a terrible and tempestuous wind, as the harbinger of his presence. In this manner God appears and speaks to him, partly, because this was his usual method in those times, as we see, ,16; see also ; partly, to awaken Job and his friends to the more serious and reverent attention to his words; partly, to testify his displeasure, both against Job, and against his three friends; and partly, that all of them night be more deeply and thoroughly humbled and abused within themselves, and prepared the better to receive, and longer to retain, the instructions which God was about to give them.

Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,Ver. 1. Then the Lord answered Job] God himself, taking the word out of Elihu’ s mouth (who bad spoken well, but lacked majesty to set it forth), became his own patron, et huius disputationis sequester, and decider of this long controversy, vindicating his own authority, and teaching that truth in the four following chapters, which St Paul briefly compriseth in these words, Romans 11:33-34, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?" Why then should any one require an account of his proceedings, or question his justice? Job had often desired that God would take knowledge of his cause. His friends also had desired the same, Job 11:5. Here therefore he appeareth in person, not as out of an engine devised for that purpose, after the manner of some partial tragedy, for the whole narration testifieth that this is a true story of things done indeed, and afterwards faithfully recorded (Beza). Which history is highly to be esteemed as an incomparable treasure, if it were for nothing else, yet for the right knowledge of natural philosophy here laid open, in these four following chapters, together with the chief and principal end thereof, which is, that in these visible creatures we may behold the invisible things of God. Out of the whirlwind] That is, out of a cloud whence issued a whirlwind or a storm, as a testimony of his heavenly majesty, and to procure attention. See the like Deuteronomy 4:12 1 Kings 19:11 Ezekiel 1:4 Nahum 1:9 Hebrews 12:18. God loves to be acquainted with men in the walks of their obedience, yet he takes state upon him in his ordinances, and will be trembled at in his word and judgments. And said] With much more mildness and moderation than Elihu or any of them had used in reprehending Job, and yet with such plenty and efficacy of words and arguments, Ut facillime omnes omnium orationes superet, that no such oration can anywhere else be read. Well might Lavater say, Hoc postremum colloquium est admodum suave et utile, This conference of God with Job is very sweet and profitable; for it teacheth us, among other things, how gently God dealeth with his offending servants, and how hardly the best are brought to confess their sins, and truly to repent of them.

XXXVIII.(1) Then the Lord answered Job.—This chapter brings the grand climax and catastrophe of the poem. Unless all was to remain hopelessly uncertain and dark, there could be no solution of the questions so fiercely and obstinately debated but by the intervention of Him whose government was the matter in dispute. And so the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, or tempest: that is to say, the tempest which had been long gathering, and which had been the subject of Elihu’s remarks. The one argument which is developed in the remaining chapters is drawn from man’s ignorance. There is so much in nature that man knows not and cannot understand, that it is absurd for him to suppose that he can judge aright in matters touching God’s moral government of the world. Though Job is afterwards (Job 42:8) justified by God, yet the tone of all that God says to him is more or less mingled with reproach.

CHAPTER XXXVIII The Lord answers Job out of a whirlwind, and challenges him to answer, 1-3. He convinces him of ignorance and weakness, by an enumeration of some of his mighty works; particularly of the creation of the earth, 4-7. The sea and the deeps, 8-18. The light, 19-21. Snow, hail, thunder, lightning, rain, dew, ice, and hoar-frost, 22-30. Different constellations, and the ordinances of heaven influencing the earth, 31-33. Shows his own power and wisdom in the atmosphere, particularly in the thunder, lightnings, and rain, 34-38. His providence in reference to the brute creation, 39-41. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVIII Verse 1. The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind] It is not סופה suphah, as in the preceding chapter, Job 37:9; but סורה searah, which signifies something turbulent, tumultuous, or violently agitated; and here may signify what we call a tempest, and was intended to fill Job's mind with solemnity, and an awful sense of the majesty of God. The Chaldee has, a whirlwind of grief, making the whole rather allegorical than real; impressing the scene on Job's imagination.

1. out of the whirlwind] Rather, out of the storm. Jehovah, even when condescending to speak with men, must veil Himself in the storm cloud, in which He descends and approaches the earth. Even when He is nearest us, clouds and darkness are round about Him. His revelation of Himself to Job, at least, was partly to rebuke him, for he had sinned against His majesty. and He veils Himself in terrors. The storm is not necessarily that which Elihu describes; the Art. is rather generic, the meaning being that thus Jehovah spoke, namely, out of storm.

Then the Lord answered Job - This speech is addressed particularly to Job, not only because he is the principal personage referred to in the book, but particularly because he had indulged in language of murmuring and complaint.

1. The Lord — Jehovah. See note, Job 1:21. This name of tenderness, mercy and hope reappears as the solution of the mystery draws nigh.