Job 37 · Verse 5

Job 37:5

God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
Job 37:5, King James Version

Job 37:5 in other translations

BSBGod thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things we cannot comprehend.
WEBGod thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can’t comprehend.
ASVGod thundereth marvellously with his voice; Great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
YLTGod thundereth with His voice wonderfully, Doing great things and we know not.
DARBYGod thundereth marvellously with his voice, doing great things which we do not comprehend.
BBEHe does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;
WebsterGod thundereth marvelously with his voice; great things he doeth, which we cannot comprehend.

What does Job 37:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. (Job 36:26; Psa 65:6; 139:14). The sublimity of the description lies in this, that God is everywhere in the storm, directing it whither He will [Barnes]. See Psa 29:1-11, where, as here, the "voice" of God is repeated with grand effect. The thunder in Arabia is sublimely terrible.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 God thundereth marvellously with his voice - This is the conclusion of Elihu's description of the lightning and thunder: and here only should chapter 36 have ended. He began, Job 36:29, with the noise of God's tabernacle; and he ends here with the marvellous thundering of Jehovah. Probably the writer of the book of Job had seen the description of a similar thunder storm as given by the psalmist, Psa 77:16-19 : - Psa 77:16 The waters saw thee, O God!The waters saw thee, and were afraid.Yea, the deeps were affrighted! Psa 77:17 The clouds poured out water;The ethers sent forth a sound;Yea, thine arrows went abroad. Psa 77:18 The voice of thy thunder was through the expanse:The lightnings illumined the globe;The earth trembled and shook! Psa 77:19 Thy way is in the sea,And thy paths on many waters;But thy footsteps are not known. Great things doeth he - This is the beginning of a new paragraph; and relates particularly to the phenomena which are afterwards mentioned. All of them wondrous things; and, in many respects, to us incomprehensible.

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 37:5 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.

יַרְעֵ֤םyar.'Emhe thundersH7481
אֵ֣ל'elGodH410
בְּ֭קוֹלוֹbe.ko.lowith voice hisH6963
נִפְלָא֑וֹתnif.la.'otwondersH6381
עֹשֶׂ֥ה'o.Seh[he is] doingH6213
גְ֝דֹל֗וֹתge.do.Lotgreat [things]H1419
וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808
נֵדָֽע\׃ne.Da'we knowH3045

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

Cross references for Job 37:5

  • Job 5:9

    Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:

  • Romans 11:33

    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!

  • Job 9:10

    Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

  • Isaiah 40:28

    Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

  • Ecclesiastes 3:11

    He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

  • Job 36:26

    Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.

  • Revelation 15:3

    And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

  • Job 26:14

    Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

  • Isaiah 40:21-22

    Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 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:

  • 2 Samuel 22:14-15

    The Lord thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.

  • Job 11:7

    Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
thundereth.
2Sa 22:14,15
great.
5:9; 9:10; 11:7; 26:14; 36:26; Ec 3:11; Isa 40:21,22,28; Ro 11:33
Re 15:3

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

Context

  • Job 37:4

    After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.

  • Job 37:5

    God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

  • 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.

Read all of Job 37

Job 37:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Tronará Dios maravillosamente con su voz; él hace grandes cosas, que nosotros no entendemos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		✶Dieu tonne merveilleusement de sa voix, faisant de grandes choses que nous ne comprenons pas.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Gott donnert wunderbar mit seiner Stimme; er tut große Dinge, die wir nicht begreifen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Tonabit Deus in voce sua mirabiliter, qui facit magna et inscrutabilia;