Job 28 · Verse 25

Job 28:25

To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.

Job 28:25, King James Version

Job 28:25 in other translations

BSB	When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,
WEB	He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
ASV	To make a weight for the wind: Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure.
YLT	To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out in measure.
DARBY	In making a weight for the wind, and meting out the waters by measure,
BBE	When he made a weight for the wind, measuring out the waters;
Webster	To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.

What does Job 28:25 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

25. God has adjusted the weight of the winds, so seemingly imponderable, lest, if too weighty, or too light, injury should be caused. He measureth out the waters, fixing their bounds, with wisdom as His counsellor (Pr 8:27-31; Is 40:12).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 25 To make the weight for the winds - God has given an atmosphere to the earth, which, possessing a certain degree of gravity perfectly suited to the necessities of all animals, plants, vegetables, and fluids, is the cause in his hand of preserving animal and vegetative life through the creation; for by it the blood circulates in the veins of animals, and the juices in the tubes of vegetables. Without this pressure of the atmosphere, there could be no respiration; and the elasticity of the particles of air included in animal and vegetable bodies, without this superincumbent pressure, would rupture the vessels in which they are contained, and destroy both kinds of life. So exactly is this weight of the winds or atmospheric air proportioned to the necessities of the globe, that we find it in the mean neither too light to prevent the undue expansion of animal and vegetable tubes, nor too heavy to compress them so as to prevent due circulation. See at the end of the chapter, Job 28:28 (note). And he weigheth the waters by measure - He has exactly proportioned the aqueous surface of the earth to the terrene parts, so that there shall be an adequate surface to produce, by evaporation, moisture sufficient to be treasured up in the atmosphere for the irrigation of the earth, so that it may produce grass for cattle, and corn for the service of man. It has been found, by a pretty exact calculation, that the aqueous surface of the globe is to the terrene parts as three to one; or, that three-fourths of the surface of the globe is water, and about one-fourth earth. And other experiments on evaporation, or the quantity of vapours which arise from a given space in a given time, show that it requires such a proportion of aqueous surface to afford moisture sufficient for the other proportion of dry land. Thus God has given the waters by measure, as he has given the due proportion of weight to the winds.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 28:20-28

There is a two-fold wisdom; one hid in God, which is secret, and belongs not to us; the other made known by him, and revealed to man. One day's events, and one man's affairs, have such reference to, and so hang one upon another, that He only, to whom all is open, and who sees the whole at one view, can rightly judge of every part. But the knowledge of God's revealed will is within our reach, and will do us good. Let…

Read the full comment on Job 28:20-28 →

Job 28:25 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לַעֲשׂ֣וֹתla.'a.Sotto makeH6213

לָר֣וּחַla.Ru.achfor the windH7307

מִשְׁקָ֑לmish.KalweightH4948

וּ֝מַ֗יִםu.Ma.yimand [the] watersH4325

תִּכֵּ֥ןti.Kenhe has measuredH8505

בְּמִדָּֽה\׃be.mi.Dahwith a measureH4060

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 28:25

Psalms 135:7
He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
Isaiah 40:12
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Job 12:15
Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

To make the weight, etc.God has given an atmosphere to the earth, which, possessing a certain degree of gravity perfectly suited to the necessities of all animals, vegetables, and fluids, should be the cause, in His hands, of preserving animal and vegetable life; for by it the blood circulates in the veins of animals, and the juices in the tubes of vegetables. Without this atmospheric pressure there could be no respiration; and the elasticity of the particles of air in animal and vegetable bodies, would rupture the vessels in which they are contained, and destroy both kinds of life.
Ps 135:7; Isa 40:12
he weigheth.He has exactly proportioned the aqueous surface of the earth to the terrene parts, for the purpose of evaporation, etc.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Job 28:24
For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
Job 28:25
To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
Job 28:26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:

Read all of Job 28

Job 28:25 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Al dar peso al viento, y poner las aguas por medida;
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Quand il fixait au vent sa pesanteur, et qu’il établissait les eaux selon leur mesure;
German Elberfelder 1871	Als er dem Winde ein Gewicht bestimmte, und die Wasser mit dem Maße abwog,
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Qui fecit ventis pondus, et aquas appendit in mensura.