Job 37 · Verse 18

Job 37:18

Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?
Job 37:18, King James Version

Job 37:18 in other translations

BSBcan you, like Him, spread out the skies to reflect the heat like a mirror of bronze?
WEBCan you, with him, spread out the sky, which is strong as a cast metal mirror?
ASVCanst thou with him spread out the sky, Which is strong as a molten mirror?
YLTThou hast made an expanse with Him For the clouds--strong as a hard mirror!
DARBYHast thou with him spread out the sky, firm, like a molten mirror?
BBEWill you, with him, make the skies smooth, and strong as a polished looking-glass?
WebsterHast thou with him spread out the sky which is strong, and as a molten looking-glass?

What does Job 37:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. with him--like as He does (Job 40:15). spread out--given expanse to. strong pieces--firm; whence the term "firmament" ("expansion," Ge 1:6, Margin; Is 44:24). molten looking glass--image of the bright smiling sky. Mirrors were then formed of molten polished metal, not glass.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky - Wert thou with him when he made the expanse; fitted the weight to the winds; proportioned the aqueous to the terrene surface of the globe; the solar attraction to the quantum of vapours necessary; to be stored up in the clouds, in order to be occasionally deposited in fertilizing showers upon the earth? and then dost thou know how gravity and elasticity should be such essential properties of atmospheric air, that without them and their due proportions, we should neither have animal nor vegetable life? Strong - as a molten looking-glass? - Like a molten mirror. The whole concave of heaven, in a clear day or brilliant night, being like a mass of polished metal, reflecting or transmitting innumerable images.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 37:14-20

Due thoughts of the works of God will help to reconcile us to all his providences. As God has a powerful, freezing north wind, so he has a thawing, composing south wind: the Spirit is compared to both, because he both convinces and comforts, So 4:16. The best of men are much in the dark concerning the glorious perfections of the Divine nature and the Divine government. Those who, through grace, know much of God…

Read the full comment on Job 37:14-20 →

Job 37:18 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.

תַּרְקִ֣יעַtar.Ki.a'will you spread out?H7554
עִ֭מּוֹi.mowith himH5973
לִשְׁחָקִ֑יםlish.cha.Kim<to> cloudsH7834
חֲ֝זָקִ֗יםcha.za.KimhardH2389
כִּרְאִ֥יkir.'Ilike a mirrorH7209
מוּצָֽק\׃mu.TzakmoltenH3332

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

Cross references for Job 37:18

  • Isaiah 44:24

    Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

  • Psalms 104:2

    Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

  • Isaiah 40:22

    It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

  • Exodus 38:8

    And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

  • Psalms 150:1

    Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

  • Job 9:8-9

    Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.

  • 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?

  • Proverbs 8:27

    When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

  • Psalms 148:4-6

    Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

  • Genesis 1:6-8

    And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
spread.
9:8,9; Ge 1:6-8; Ps 104:2; 148:4-6; 150:1; Pr 8:27; Isa 40:12,22
Isa 44:24
as.
Ex 38:8

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

Context

  • Job 37:17

    How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?

  • Job 37:18

    Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?

  • Job 37:19

    Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.

Read all of Job 37

Job 37:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¿Extendiste tú con él los cielos, firmes como un espejo sólido?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		As-tu étendu avec lui la voûte céleste, aussi ferme qu’un miroir de fonte?
German
Elberfelder 1871		kannst du, gleich ihm, das Himmelsgewölbe ausbreiten, fest wie ein gegossener Spiegel?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Tu forsitan cum eo fabricatus es cælos, qui solidissimi quasi ære fusi sunt.