Job 38 · Verse 1

Job 38:1

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 38:1, King James Version

Job 38:1 in other translations

BSBThen the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
WEBThen the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
ASVThen Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
YLTAnd Jehovah answereth Job out of the whirlwind, and saith: --
DARBYAnd Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
BBEAnd the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
WebsterThen the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

What does Job 38:1 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Job 38:1-41. 1. Jehovah appears unexpectedly in a whirlwind (already gathering Job 37:1, 2), the symbol of "judgment" (Psa 50:3, 4, &c.), to which Job had challenged Him. He asks him now to get himself ready for the contest. Can he explain the phenomena of God's natural government? How can he, then, hope to understand the principles of His moral government? God thus confirms Elihu's sentiment, that submission to, not reasonings on, God's ways is man's part. This and the disciplinary design of trial to the godly is the great lesson of this book. He does not solve the difficulty by reference to future retribution: for this was not the immediate question; glimpses of that truth were already given in the fourteenth and nineteenth chapters, the full revelation of it being reserved for Gospel times. Yet even now we need to learn the lesson taught by Elihu and God in Job.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Introduction

The Lord answers Job out of a whirlwind, and challenges him to answer, Job 38:1-3. He convinces him of ignorance and weakness, by an enumeration of some of his mighty works; particularly of the creation of the earth, Job 38:4-7. The sea and the deeps, Job 38:8-18. The light, Job 38:19-21. Snow, hail, thunder, lightning, rain, dew, ice, and hoar-frost, Job 38:22-30. Different constellations, and the ordinances of heaven influencing the earth, Job 38:31-33. Shows his own power and wisdom in the atmosphere, particularly in the thunder, lightnings, and rain, Job 38:34-38. His providence in reference to the brute creation, Job 38:39-41. 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 38:1-3
Job had silenced, but had not convinced his friends. Elihu had silenced Job, but had not brought him to admit his guilt before God. It pleased the Lord to interpose. The Lord, in this discourse, humbles Job, and brings him to repent of his passionate expressions concerning God's providential dealings with him; and this he does, by calling upon Job to compare God's being from everlasting to everlasting, with his own time; God's knowledge of all things, with his own ignorance; and God's almighty power, with his own weakness. Our darkening the counsels of God's wisdom with our folly, is a great provocation to God. Humble faith and sincere obedience see farthest and best into the will of the Lord.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Job 38:1 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.

וַיַּֽעַן\־vai.ya.'an-and he answeredH6030
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
אִ֭יּוֹב'I.yovJobH347
מִ֥ן\׀minfromH4480
הַסְּעָרָ֗הha.se.'a.rahthe tempestH5591
וַיֹּאמַֽר\׃vai.yo.Marand he saidH559

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

Cross references for Job 38:1

  • Job 40:6

    Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

  • 2 Kings 2:11

    And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

  • Job 37:1-2

    At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place. Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.

  • Exodus 19:16-19

    And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

  • 1 Kings 19:11

    And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

  • Deuteronomy 4:11-12

    And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

  • 2 Kings 2:1

    And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

  • Ezekiel 1:4

    And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

  • Job 37:9

    Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.

  • Nahum 1:3

    The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

  • Deuteronomy 5:22-24

    These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

  • Job 37:14

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

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1 God challenges Job to answer.
4 God, by his mighty works, convinces Job of ignorance,
31 and of imbecility.

37:1,2,9,14; Ex 19:16-19; De 4:11,12; 5:22-24; 1Ki 19:11
2Ki 2:1,11; Eze 1:4; Na 1:3

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

Context

  • Job 38:1

    Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

  • Job 38:2

    Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

Read all of Job 38

Job 38:1 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y RESPONDIÓ Jehová á Job desde un torbellino, y dijo:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		***Et l’ Éternel répondit à Job du milieu du tourbillon, et dit:
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Jehova antwortete Hiob aus dem Sturme und sprach:
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Respondens autem Dominus Job de turbine, dixit: