Job 37 · Verse 13

Job 37:13

He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
Job 37:13, King James Version

Job 37:13 in other translations

BSBWhether for punishment or for His land, He accomplishes this in His loving devotion.
WEBwhether it is for correction, or for his land, or for loving kindness, that he causes it to come.
ASVWhether it be for correction, or for his land, Or for lovingkindness, that he cause it to come.
YLTWhether for a rod, or for His land, Or for kindness--He doth cause it to come.
DARBYWhether he cause it to come as a rod, or for his land, or in mercy.
BBEFor a rod, or for a curse, or for mercy, causing it to come on the mark.
WebsterHe causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

What does Job 37:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 37:11-13

11-13. How the thunderclouds are dispersed, or else employed by God, either for correction or mercy. by watering--by loading it with water. wearieth--burdeneth it, so that it falls in rain; thus "wearieth" answers to the parallel "scattereth" (compare, see on Job 37:9); a clear sky resulting alike from both. bright cloud--literally, "cloud of his light," that is, of His lightning. Umbreit for "watering," &c…

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Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 He causeth it to come - The Vulgate translates the text thus: Sive in una tribu, sine in terra sua, sive in quocunque loco misericordiae suae eas jusserit inveniri. "Whether in one tribe, or whether in his own land, or in whatsoever place of his mercy he has commanded them to come." In the preceding verse it is said that God conducts the clouds according to the orders of his counsels, whithersoever he pleases: and here it is added that, when he designs to heap favors upon any land, he commands the clouds to go thither, and pour out on it their fertilizing showers. See Calmet. The Vulgate certainly gives a good sense, and our common version is also clear and intelligble; but there are doubts whether the Hebrew will bear this meaning. Here it is stated that God sends the rain either for correction, לשבט leshebet, which signifies rod, staff, tribe, and is here taken as the symbol of correction, he sends rain sometimes as a judgment, inundating certain lands, and sweeping away their produce by irresistible floods: or for his land, לארצו leartso, his own land, Palestine, the place of his favored people: or for mercy, לחסד lechesed; when a particular district has been devoured by locusts, or cursed with drought, God, in his mercy, sends fertilizing rains to such places to restore the ears which the caterpillars have eaten, and to make the desert blossom like the garden of the Lord. Some think that Job refers to the curse brought upon the old world by the waters of the deluge. Now although God has promised that there shall no more be a flood of waters to destroy the whole earth; yet we know he can, very consistently with his promise, inundate any particular district; or, by a superabundance of rain, render the toil of the husbandman in any place vain. Therefore, still his rain may come for judgment, for mercy, or for the especial help of his people or Church.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 37:1-13

The changes of the weather are the subject of a great deal of our thoughts and common talk; but how seldom do we think and speak of these things, as Elihu, with a regard to God, the director of them! We must notice the glory of God, not only in the thunder and lightning, but in the more common and less awful changes of the weather; as the snow and rain. Nature directs all creatures to shelter themselves from a…

Read the full comment on Job 37:1-13 →

Job 37:13 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.

אִם\־'im-whetherH518
לְשֵׁ֥בֶטle.She.vetfor a rodH7626
אִם\־'im-orH518
לְאַרְצ֑וֹle.'ar.Tzofor earth hisH776
אִם\־'im-orH518
לְ֝חֶ֗סֶדle.Che.sedfor covenant loyaltyH2617
יַמְצִאֵֽהוּ\׃yam.tzi.'E.huhe makes find itH4672

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

Cross references for Job 37:13

  • 1 Kings 18:45

    And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

  • Job 38:26-27

    To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

  • 1 Samuel 12:18-19

    So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.

  • Job 36:31

    For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance.

  • 2 Samuel 21:10

    And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

  • Job 38:37-38

    Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

  • Job 37:6

    For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.

  • Ezra 10:9

    Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

  • Exodus 9:18-25

    Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field. …

  • Joel 2:23

    Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

  • 2 Samuel 21:14

    And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
whether.
6; 36:31; 38:37,38; Ex 9:18-25; 1Sa 12:18,19; Ezr 10:9
correction. Heb. a rod. for his.
38:26,27
for mercy.
2Sa 21:10,14; 1Ki 18:45; Joe 2:23

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

Context

  • Job 37:12

    And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.

  • Job 37:13

    He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

  • Job 37:14

    Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

Read all of Job 37

Job 37:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Unas veces por azote, otras por causa de su tierra, otras por misericordia las hará parecer.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Soit qu’il les fasse venir comme verge, ou pour sa terre, ou en bonté.
German
Elberfelder 1871		sei es, daß er sie zur Geißel, oder für seine Erde, oder zur Erweisung seiner Gnade sich entladen läßt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		sive in una tribu, sive in terra sua, sive in quocumque loco misericordiæ suæ eas jusserit inveniri.